My Protector
by Saphire282
Summary: What if Saya lived a normal life? In a world of no monsters, and she could just go to high school and lived with her family. Would Haji still be her soul mate? I think so.
1. Impact

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blood + characters. I just like to do funny things with them :D**

**As a general warning before you go any further. This is a Saya/Haji story. HOWEVER. Some of the chapters are very Solomon heavy. So if you're the type of person who wishes Solomon to jump off a cliff I do not advice you to read this story. Cause I honestly think Solomon's a sweety /end warning.**

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It was the first day of a new school year, and Saya wasn't very excited. But not many students are, she figured. However, as she entered the hallways she found all her classmates in a buzz. They were welcoming each other back and talking about all the adventures they had over the summer. Saya carefully maneuvered through the crowds and found her way to her locker. While she was absorbed looking at her schedule and picking out the books she needed for classes, there was suddenly a hand on Saya's butt. This automatically made her blush and drop her books onto the floor. She then swirled around ready to slap someone on the face until she caught a glimpse of who it was.

"Nathan you scared the daylights out of me!" she accused with a smile, and then placed her own hand on his butt as they pressed together in their accustomed hug. From the outside it seemed perverted, but to them it was just a joke. Nathan was Saya's best male friend, and about as flamboyantly gay as you can find. He was wearing a ruffled deep purple button up shirt with his school slacks, and had his gold hair tied back into two stubby pigtails sticking from the back corners of his head. He would probably of been wearing matching purple eyeliner, if the school allowed makeup.

"Oh please girl! Who else in this school would touch you like that?" He asked with a giggle. Saya punched Nathan's arm lightly in response. "How was your summer anyway honey?"

Saya slightly smiled, "Great actually, I spent a lot of time with my family on the beach. Kai and Riku practiced catch while Dad grilled out."

Nathan let out an exaggerated sigh, "sounds like snooze-ville to me dear. You had months of free time, and you stay here with family?" Saya just shrugged in response. "Well let me tell you that while you were stuck here, I was abroad. I went to Italy and New York and saw all the best Opera's and Broadways. It was pure gold! I just love the Broadway scene! You know I think I'm gonna be a producer someday."

"I know Nathan, I know, you've told me twenty times already. I'm sure you're gonna be a great producer too."

Nathan just beamed a smile, despite Saya's obvious lack of enthusiasm on the subject "Yup, I'm going to be the best. You'll see so many headlines "Nathan Mahler produces another sold out show." He continually went on with his self aggrandizing while Saya looked up at the clock and noticed the time.

"Time for class, don't want to be late on the first day!" She announced, a bit glad that time was running out. She patted Nathans shoulder and ran to history class.

The rest of the day went on like business as usual. Getting orientation papers, introducing yourself to new teachers and classmates, telling everyone about twenty times how your summer went. Saya was glad when she got her break for lunch. By then Saya had already run into her other best friend Kaori, who was ecstatic to see her.

"You could of visited over the summer you know! It's not like we live far away from each other. I swear you and Kai have something going on considering you can't seem to get away from your family." This was probably the fifteenth time Kaori has accused a relationship with Kai, so it stopped flustering Saya when the idea was brought up.

"I swear you never listen Kaori, Kai is like family to me. Why would I date my brother? Besides he has a girlfriend you know."

"Yeah, a girlfriend he always ignores! Besides haven't you noticed that whenever you need anything Kai is always there? He doesn't do that for his girlfriend does he?"

"True" Saya paused thinking of all the times Kai had left Mao high and dry. But she still didn't put too much concern into it. "However it's just a family thing Kaori, he's my big brother you know? I guess he's got this idea that it makes him responsible for taking care of me."

Kaori just shook her head and continued walking. They had entered the cafeteria now, and Saya started to sway. She was getting dizzy. Her stomach had been growling all morning due to the fact that she skipped breakfast, as usual, and now she was feeling quite weak. Kaori didn't notice. She was very used to Saya's persistent denial of healthy nutrition and ignored Saya's growling stomach. She just continued walking bringing up a new subject of this years' competition in gymnastics. Saya tried to keep up, but her body slumped and about ten feet away from the food line she just collapsed into… someone's arms.

When Saya looked up she immediately realized that the person holding her was not someone she recognized. It was an extraordinarily tall boy. Hard to believe he was still in high school. Even as he held her body loosely in an upright position his face still hovered at least a few feet above hers. She then noticed that the boy was rather beautiful. He had ash black hair pulled back into a wavy pony tail with just a few lines of hair on the sides of his pale skinned face. And his eyes! They were a piercing gray blue, and they were looking straight back into Saya's eyes. He said nothing, and even though she never met this boy his stare had so much emotion in it, something intimate. As soon as Saya realized how much she was staring back she blushed, and immediately looked down. By then Kaori was already seven feet away from this odd exchange, and looking back at Saya, unsure whether to leave them alone, or go back to get her. Saya looked to the side and noticed Kaori's curious stare, and waved her off. Shrugging off the loose embrace the boy had on her. The boy didn't seem to notice, as if he was perfectly comfortable whether he held her or not. "Uh, I'll be with you in a minute Kaori, I just need to sit down." Saya called out. Kaori just giggled and went in line for food. _"__Oh how embarrassing" _Saya thought, but just stepped a few away from the boy and slid down against the wall until she sat. The boy kept stood and pulled a miniature cello off the wall next to him and started playing. His eyes becoming much more distant as it looked like he stared into nothing while he played. Saya closed her eyes listening to the melody, it sounded sharp, but at the same time sweet, but what caught Saya's focus is that it sounded strongly familiar. She knew it wasn't a tune from any current popular songs, and it didn't sound like any of the instrumental classics, but still, it sounded like something she heard, maybe from a long time ago. Maybe it was something her biological mother used to sing to her before she became an orphan. Either way it felt like that song connected to her personally, like a personal lullaby. It was so calming that Saya started to feel herself drift into unconsciousness until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was then that she realized the music had stopped and that boy was touching her.

"You should get some food, you're rather weak" he said in a rather cold voice. The distance in his tone rather surprised Saya. It was so contradictory to the look he had in his eyes before. She shook her head quickly trying to remember her surroundings, and to process boys words. He was right, she did need food, but she wanted to hear more of her lullaby.

"You play beautifully" she said with a little too much admiration than she wished to expose in her voice. The boy's cold features then took on a soft smile.

"Thank you" he said in a softer tone and then moved his hand over to hold hers and pulled her up. "I will play for you another time, if you wish, but I really think you should get some food. Plus your friends seem concerned." He motioned his hand to the table where Kaori and Nathan sat, both of them having their eyes glued on what Saya was doing. Saya blushed again in embarrassment and rolled her eyes over to her friends. Both were now trying to casually look away; now that they realized they been caught. She then looked back to the boy and nodded, letting go of his hand to go into now nearly empty food shop. He followed close behind her though, watching her movements carefully; as if he was ready to catch her again if she fell. She could feel his presence behind her, which was both flattering and making her nervous at the same time. He didn't order food though, and just silently followed her until she made it to her food table. She frowned when she noticed that he was walking away.

"Hey, what's your name anyway?" she asked him before he got too far.

He turned around and gave her a slight bow "Haji" he said, his voice going back to its distant tone.

"Well, thanks for earlier Haji, I'll be sure to take you up on your offer to play later."

Haji's soft smile came back "No, I should thank you. And it will be my pleasure." He then turned back and took his place by the wall again, picking up his cello and playing a different tune, though, this time he didn't look like he was staring into space, now it seemed that out of the corner of his eyes, he was staring at Saya.

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**Hehe R&R plz and sankchu**


	2. Watched

Saya didn't notice the fact that Haji was still looking to her after he left. She was too busy dealing with the incredulous looks both her friends were giving her at the time. It stayed silent for about thirty seconds while Saya was chewing on a French fry until she finally got rather annoyed with the situation.

"What?" she asked in a frustrated voice to her friends.

"Don't you what **us **girl-friend, we should be asking you the questions. Like what you were doing with loner boy over there." Nathan said while trying to point over to Haji without making it too obvious, in case Haji was looking over at them at that moment. Saya, idiotically, looked back anyway and once again made direct eye contact with Haji. His stare made her blush and look back to her friends quickly. Nathan and Kaori looked at Saya's cheeks and then glanced at each other, already in silent agreement that something was up.

Saya just ignored Nathans question "loner boy?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, don't you know? Absolutely no one talks to him" Kaori stated.

"Well that's not very nice. He seems like a good guy."

"Only if you like the strong silent types" Nathan chided. "It's not like no one has tried to talk to him. I'm sure a lot of girls are fascinated by the tall musical wallflower. It's just a matter of getting him to talk back. You know it's very frustrating to have a conversation with someone who seems to have no intention to participate. I think you're the first person to actually get a name out of him Saya, now what did he say it was?"

"Haji" Saya said, in a voice that was once again a little too admirable, but she hoped her friends would ignore her tone. "And maybe he just likes to be quiet, you know not everyone has to be as loud as you Nathan," she joked, throwing a fry at his nose.

"Anyway what happened back there?" Kaori demanded.

Saya shrugged, trying quite desperately to seem nonchalant. "I fainted, and he caught me, end of story."

Her friends just exchanged looks again.

"Oh, how about that look?" Kaori sneered.

"Look?" Nathan questioned.

"Oh yeah, you totally missed it Nathan! When he caught her, he looked down at her, and she looked up, and I swear to god the intensity! It was like long lost lovers getting lost in each others eyes. I bet you anything that if Saya didn't notice me staring they would of kissed." Kaori gushed. By now Saya had her face down into the lunch table growing redder by the second. She wondered momentarily if it was possible to blush enough that her cheeks would start bleeding out access blood cause of too much pressure. Her friends snickered and started throwing more accusations about the holes in Saya's explanation.

"Not only that, but why did he follow you to the table?" Nathan asked.

"He probably just wanted to make sure I wouldn't fall again before I ate something. I wouldn't be surprised if I did." Saya mumbled against the table.

"Oh and what about his offer to ppplllaaayyy. What kind of games are you and loner boy planning on huh?" Nathan poked at her arm this time.

"He's a good cello player, he told me he'd play for me later." She kept mumbling refusing to look up.

"Aw how romantic! Having a private session with a boy playing music just for you." Kaori gushed a little enviously.

Saya looked up this time, trying not to care that by now she was probably as red as a tomato. "It's not like that! I'm sure he'd play for anyone if they'd care enough to listen."

"Yeah Yeah" Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Sure Sure" Kaori smirked finishing Nathans sentence.

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut Up!" Saya said throwing a small tantrum from all the teasing she was getting. She banged her hands against the table for emphasis, and her friends just broke out in loud giggles. Saya turned her head away from them and started silently chewing on a piece of pizza. Nathan and Kaori still talked amongst each other giving no concern about Saya's silent treatment; they knew she'd forgive them both by the end of next period. Saya always sucked at holding a grudge. Saya unintentionally glanced over to Haji, whom was still looking at her. She felt compelled to go over to him again, like his stare was trying to convey a message but she still needed the words. She sighed and quickly looked away again, knowing if she dared take a step towards Haji anytime soon, her friends wouldn't let her live it down for the next week. Which is a little more than she was willing to put up with.

As lunch period finally came to an end Saya rushed out past her friends to get to next period; actually happy now to go through the motions of reviewing homework loads and meeting new teachers. She seemed to be more aware of her surroundings though, well mainly, she kept looking for "him". It was bugging her that she never noticed Haji until today, even though she was sure he's been at this school all the time she's been here. How could she not notice someone so tall -carrying a cello around everywhere- before? She's been at school for a full year before, she should of noticed him in the halls at some point. Either way she was going to make sure that she wouldn't miss his presence anymore. She told herself it's an act of goodwill. To make sure someone notices him and talks to him since it seems no one else will. At least that's what she's been telling herself. She sighed as she got into last class with still no sign of him having any classes with her. She shook her head at her own disappointment. _"What was I kidding, considering how tall he is he has to be a senior this year. Of course he wouldn't have any classes with me." _She scowled internally a bit flustered with herself that she was getting her hopes up in the first place. It seemed very silly to her to care so much whether she got to spend more time with a boy she just met today. She tried very hard just to focus on her last class.

Saya decided to walk home today, she had originally planned to ride with Kai but Mao had already beat Saya to him, planing on them going out to shop. Saya just told Kai that she could walk and he should enjoy himself before Kai tried to argue and leave his Mao at the curbside again. Though, at this moment, Saya was starting to regret that decision.

Saya couldn't quite place her finger on why she felt this way, but she had this intense eerie feeling crawling up her spine. She felt like there were someone's eyes on her back, like she was being watched. She tried to account this feeling to paranoia, or maybe even hopeful thinking; considering that this feeling reminded her of how she felt earlier in the day with Haji. Though in this case, she didn't feel flattered, just nervous. Still maybe she was delusionally imagining him following her home. She shook her head once, reminding herself she doesn't have time for such thoughts in case this was real. What if someone was following her? What would they want? Was she going to be mugged? All the possibilities spiked Saya's breathing as her she picked up her pace. She knew better than to frantically run, because if she was being followed the victim always gets caught right after they start to make a run for it. She tried to calm herself down. _"None of this is real, none of this is real. If there's someone behind me I would of heard them. I could hear them walk, right?" _Saya tried to focus on her footsteps, listening to their pace. She wasn't sure but she thought she heard more than just her two feet, but it sounded too similar, like if someone was following her they managed to mimic her pace. She finally just came to a dead halt. She heard two more steps after she stopped, and then it went silent. Saya held her sides tightly, and then reluctantly turned around.

"H-hello?" she asked, even though she saw no one behind her.

And in the most quiet whisper, soft enough that most would think it was just the wind, a deep voice said "Saya…"

This was enough to turn Saya frantic as she screamed, and turned around sprinting to get home.

She didn't slow down until she was a few feet outside her families restaurant. Even though it was a moderately busy street she still stopped to try to listen for anyone running behind her. She looked all around her once, just to see people passing by talking to each other or looking into shop windows. She sighed "_What a wreak, I wonder how the person knew me." _The thought brought another shiver down her spine as she tried to shake it off and compose herself going inside.

"Welcome home" Gorge and Riku said in unison.

"Thanks Riku, thanks Dad," she said hugging them each.

"How was your first day back at school?" Gorge asked.

Saya shrugged "It's school dad, same as every day."

Gorge chuckled at her answer "Yeah I suppose you're right."

Saya put on her apron and got to work cleaning dishes and preparing for the evening crowed. She still had that feeling of eyes on her, but she tried to ignore it. She was with her family, what could go wrong? Gorge set up the grill and chatted with a few regulars up at the bar. Riku sat by the window and worked on his homework, sometimes staring outside when he had to think on a question. Kai came home about two hours later, nearly shoving Mao out the door so he could have some time with his family. It was near closing time when Riku said something particularly interesting.

"I wonder if that guy is poor?" he said, still staring out the window.

"What guy?" Gorge asked.

"Oh, there's a man who's been standing at the street corner staring into the restaurant all afternoon. At first it kinda creped me out because I thought he was staring at me, but it looks like he's trying to look into the restaurant. I bet he's hungry, but can't afford food. Can we give him some left overs dad? We're just going to throw them out anyway."

This caught Saya's attention, she whipped around and looked at Riku. "What does the guy look like?" she blurted. All her family turned to her giving her a look, but she kept her eyes on Riku waiting for an explanation.

"Um, he's pretty tall, and slim, and he's wearing black pants, a black vest and a white undershirt. He was playing music earlier, I think he has a cello slung on his back."

"_HAJI?" _Saya thought and ran from behind the counter out the door looking both ways. She did not see him though.

"You just scared him away Saya." Riku said, looking back out the window.

"Which way did he go?" She asked, maybe a little frantically, by then Kai wrapped his hand around one of her arms.

"And what's up with you little missy?" Kai asked, looking Saya in the eye. "You don't think we're gonna let you chase after street predators do you?"

"He's not a predator! I mean… well, I can't be certain, but I think that was someone I know."

"If it was someone you know they would of just came in and said hi." Kai insisted.

Saya wanted to explain to Kai what happened, but she wasn't quite sure if she could explain it even to herself. _"I met a guy in school today and now I think he might be stalking me? Oh yeah, that sounds like a good excuse to go follow him. I sound delusional. And besides, even if that was Haji, I'm sure Kai wouldn't think twice about letting some guy follow me around without getting a good beating." _She just sighed "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What is with you anyway Saya? You're not acting like yourself" Kai asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just lack of sleep I bet. You know the first day of school it's so difficult to go back into the waking early schedule." She faked a laugh and realized she still sounded a little frantic. "Anyway, I should probably go to bed early tonight. I'll shower right now and hit the sack, I should be fine by tomorrow." She nervously pulled her arm out of Kai's hold and rushed up the stairs noticing her family, -and probably the last remaining customers—was watching her oddly. _"Great job handling that" _she thought sarcastically to herself as she opened her dresser drawers in her room to grab her night clothes and went to the bathroom.

It was the middle of the night when Saya woke again. She wasn't thirsty, and she didn't need to use the bathroom, but she couldn't for the life of her get back to sleep. She sighed reviewing the ups and downs of the previous day wondering if all those problems would go away by tomorrow so she didn't need to explain to her family why she should be put into the loony bin. She severely doubted they would go away considering that feeling her spine was now stronger than ever. "_Really Saya? You still think someone's watching you? From where? You're in a second story bedroom with no windows lined up to you. GET A GRIP!" _She sighed, and felt rather idiotic for actually needing to do this but she knew she wouldn't sleep until she checked the one place someone could still watch her from. Her window faced the back of the building, and in the back of the building there is a large tree. Saya turned on her bedroom lights, and gazed out of her window looking through the tree branches trying to see if there was anyone up there. She gasped when her eyes adjusted enough, and she swore she saw something in the branch parallel her window, whatever it was, it was trying to hide deep within the tree, leaning against its trunk. It looked like a body, but even more alarming than the body is that she saw a set of eyes, that seemed to be staring right back at her. She probably should of called someone else from the house to check but curiosity got the best of her as she opened her window.

"Hello?" she called out. Her voice seemed to have startled who/whatever it was in the branch as the body seemed to jump up, rattling the branches.

"W-woah" a deep voice said right before it lost its footing. The dark figure fell, luckily not hitting any other branches on the way down, but still landing on its side into the grassy ground.

Saya helped in surprise and then covered her mouth. Now she knew what was out there was definitely human. "Oh my god I'm so sorry" she whispered, even though she was sure the dark figure couldn't hear it. She then turned from her window and bolted out her bedroom door racing down the stairs and unlocking the front door. When she finally got to the back yard, whoever had fallen was gone. She looked around, trying to see as far as she could in every direction. "You can come out you know. You're probably hurt. You shouldn't run." She spoke softly, trying not to make a scene. After a minute she just shook her head and decided it would be best just to back inside.

When she re-entered the restaurant, she locked the door and just slumped her back against it. "Jeeze Saya what's up with you?" she asked herself.

"That's what I'd like to know." A male voice said. Saya jerked up her head to notice that a dim light was turned on in the restaurant and across the room there was Kai with his arms folded to his chest. "Spill it sister" he commanded.

"Oh, well, you see I couldn't sleep, so I was looking out the window. And I saw this raccoon, and it just randomly fell out of the tree. So I got concerned and went outside to try to rescue it you see. But when I got there, it was gone." This was actually Saya's best attempt at lying to Kai's face. She found she could lie better if most the story was true, which in this case, it was, if you can switch such minor details that 'raccoon' was code for the word 'person'.

Kai's eyes just narrowed. "A… Raccoon? For some reason Saya I don't believe you."

Saya just sighed and hung her head, "I had a feeling you wouldn't."

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**Yes, I made Haji clumsy. I just had to xD He's human now. Also I think his character best fits the dark loner kid in High School. But what do you all think? But please R&R**


	3. Prince

It had been two weeks since that insane first day of school, and to Saya's great disappointment, absolutely nothing has changed. Well, some things have changed. She was now being babysitted. Kai absolutely refused to let her be alone. He drove her to and from school every day, and during school Saya's friends kept a close watch, now that Kai tipped them off that she's been acting funny lately. She still felt like someone was watching her. Actually she was sure of it, but whoever it was seemed to mean no harm; so she stopped looking around constantly, and tried to focus on making sure her friends and family didn't worry too much about her. Hopefully the act would take her off the watch list soon enough. She really wanted to talk to Haji about it, even though she couldn't prove it was him that was following her, she had a hunch that even though she sounded delirious he wouldn't judge her for it. But of course this was impossible considering no one let her out of their sight.

As she and Nathan entered the cafeteria today there was a buzz of soft whispers that all seemed to be about the same subject. Saya turned to Nathan and then turned to the crowds trying to see what they were all looking at. Her eye's followed everyone's stare to Solomon Goldsmith. It wasn't uncommon for Solomon to be the topic of conversation. Him and his girlfriend Diva had been the king and queen of the school since day one. Even the upper classmen looked at them in a sort of awe. The most public couple; with Solomon being an ace scorer for the basketball team and Diva the lead singer in the choir. They always entered the hallways in the best clothes, and the most attitude. But today it seemed odd, people usually don't talk **this** much.

"So what's up with him?" Saya whispered to Nathan.

"Oh please girl don't you ever keep up with the news?" Nathan faked a look of disappointment at Saya's obliviousness. "The king dumped the queen" He said quite smugly. "About time too, he could do so much better."

"Oh really, like who?"

"Like me of course!" Nathan smiled.

"Sorry Nathan dear, but I don't think Solomon swings that way."

"Oh I know, it's quite a shame too. If only the poor boy saw the error of his strait ways, then he could finally get some of what he's been missing out on." Both Nathan and Saya broke out into giggles.

"It seems the queen is just blowing it off too" Nathan said as the two of them sat down at their lunch table. He gestured over to the table where Diva was sitting. Half the cafeteria was staring over there too. She had her head nuzzled up into the shoulder of a dark skinned boy. He had his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. "His names James I heard," Nathan continued "not someone I would choose myself but I guess Diva just picked someone out of her fan club to take Solomon's place. He's kinda creepy isn't he?" Saya nodded in agreement still keeping her eyes on the couple. There was something in James eyes that made him a little inhuman, he looked very distant, very disciplined, like someone from the military. Saya just shook her head.

"Whatever makes her happy I suppose." Saya commented and looked back over to Nathan.

"More like whatever keeps her reputation. Could you imagine a queen without her loyal guard? I swear that woman is such a diva."

"Well that is her name after all." Saya pointed out and they both giggled again.

"And I wonder what will happen to our schools lone prince." Nathans head turned back to Solomon, who was now sitting with a table of females who seemed more than happy for his recent change in relational status.

Saya just smirked and rolled her eyes "I don't think he's going to be alone for very long."

Everyone ate quickly during lunch today, mainly because the king and queen finished lunch early and everyone wanted to keep their eyes on them. Saya really didn't care for either of them, but when Solomon moved outside to the basketball courts Nathan tugged her arm and dragged her along to watch probably the most crowded game of one on one in history. Solomon tried quite hard to focus on the game while the masses of females –and Nathan—all chattered very happily about how good of a player he is and how smooth he looked moving through the court. Saya had to admit, she did believe that Solomon looked quite beautiful; with his golden wavy hair going half down his neck, and slim body that seemed to look good in every piece of clothes he wore. His green eyes always shined, and he almost always smiled. But, she decided to look away from the game; out of courteousness actually. She knew that absolutely everyone stared at Solomon, and while he always had a charming smile for his admirers she imagined he must get tired of all the attention. Like the movie stars, she was sure there's some days Solomon just wishes that he was normal.

Go figure she was the only one looking away and she was the one person Solomon noticed. Though, it was for the wrong reasons. He thought he saw Diva, which is actually a very common misconception that Saya had to deal with since she entered school. A lot of people have came up to her asking if she and Diva were related, or even started talking to her like she was Diva, until they noticed the difference in eye color. Saya always found this similarity quite annoying and one time started shouting to people in the hallways "I'M NOT FREAKING DIVA" and ever since then most people paid closer attention to their difference in hair length. Of course Solomon never confused Diva for anyone so he didn't know at first sight. _"God Damn that Diva, first she replaces me and then tries to ruin my focus by showing up at my practice and pretending not to care. That's really low." _Solomon fumed, forgetting his dribble and losing the ball. _"Oh wait, no, that can't be Diva, Diva would never do that to her hair. But then, who is she?" _He wondered. By then the bell rang and everyone resistantly cleared the court and went to class. Solomon knew he had to meet this girl; it was just a matter of timing.

Solomon figured out his timing when the school day came to the end. His eyes were scanning for Saya in the parking lot. He managed to spot her following Kai back to his scooter. Solomon smoothly walked over to the two of them, looking over to Kai. "Excuse me, do you mind if I speak to this girl privately. If you're in a hurry I can promise you she'll get home safely." Solomon said in a very serene voice pointing over to his red corvette parked a few rows ahead.

Saya blinked, and looked around her, confused at the situation. Kai narrowed his eyes just about to object when Mao rushed into the scene. She'd obviously been watching from nearby.

"Oh that would be perfect! Kai really needs to get away from family for a while anyway. We can go to the park now!" Mao beamed, wrapping her arms around Kais' stomach. Kai tried to wiggle free.

Saya had no clue what this was about, but it seemed like her only chance to escape family watch, even if just for a little while, she decided to take it. "Yeah bro you really do need to take a day off, I'll be fine" she faked a smile.

Kai frowned and but nodded, giving Solomon a look that loosely translated into 'if you touch her, you die' and then got on his scooter with Mao clinging behind already babbling about her day and trying to plan what they'll have for dinner.

When they sped off it was just Saya standing alone next to Solomon. She looked at him, already starting to feel on edge. _"What do you say to royalty anyway?" _she wondered. He just smiled his usual public prince charming smile at her.

"Well I finally did it." He beamed.

"Did… what?"

He gestured around himself. "I got to speak to you in private; I didn't think it was ever possible to walk around here without someone watching." Saya giggled and smiled abit. It seems Solomon had proved her theory right. Maybe he didn't like the attention as much as much as others have thought. "However," he paused looking down at her "I'm very curious as to why you choose to look away from me. Do I repel you?"

…Or maybe Saya was wrong. The fact he asked that irked her quite a bit actually. _"So what? just because I'm not one of your fangirls you decide to visit me privately and try to convert. Jeeze man get over yourself." _She just sighed and decided to remark a little sarcastically. "Oh I'm very sorry your heinous would you prefer if I stared too?"

Solomon, as confident as he is, just chuckled at her remark. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put it like that. I was actually very happy to see someone disinterested."

Saya's face then turned to confusion as she just looked back at Solomon and blinked.

"Well, maybe disinterested is too strong of a word. I mean, I hope you're interested in me, considering I'm here talking to you. I'd hate to be a bore. I just mean… well how do I put this." Solomon paused searching for words. "It seems, around here that everyone loves me. And yet, at the same time, no one knows me. And it's really hard to meet people when they're in love with you before you manage to say hello. Cause it's quite a lot of pressure really, I'm afraid to say the wrong things and disappoint people when they have such high expectations of me being, well, perfect. I know that sounds a little egotistical but I really do think that's how I'm seen around here."

Saya laughed. She never thought anyone would see the day Solomon Goldsmith would end up so nervously rambling. Let alone that person being her. She shook her head and patted his shoulder, nearly giggling again over the fact the prince would need someone to comfort him. "No, no I get what you're saying, and man you should hear the whispers, to some girls you're more than perfect, more like godly."

Solomon gulped loudly in response "Oh no, it's worse than I thought." Saya started to giggle again. Afterward it got quiet as Solomon started to play with his hands looking to the sky. The pause was starting to bug Saya and she was about to speak, but then Solomon finally opened his mouth. "I know this probably sounds crazy to you. And if it does, I totally understand. But I honestly don't think I'm going to find another person who understands this. I mean, even if someone says they do, they'll probably just be saying it to please my… royalty." He cringed at the last word and then finally looked down into Saya's eyes. "What I'm trying to get at, is, well… would you go out with me?"

Saya blinked and blushed at his words, but had a hard time looking away from his shining green eyes. She really hadn't put much thought into dating Solomon. Probably due to the fact that she never thought she'd actually meet Solomon. Now that the Prince was stripped down to another boyish fool he seemed rather sweet to Saya. But what about his fan club? She really didn't want to deal with ninety percent of the schools females –and Nathan—giving her looks like 'how is she good enough for Solomon.' "_Well I don't know about dating but if you're looking for someone with personality and you don't mind becoming bisexual, I know someone who would be great for you. Or at least entertaining." _She felt like saying, but then decided there was a better avenue. "I don't know Solomon, I mean, didn't you just break up with Diva yesterday? Wouldn't you prefer to have some time single?"

Solomon gritted his teeth a bit and shrugged. "Not really, I didn't break up with her to be single. I just didn't want to be with her anymore. You seem much different to me. Besides, it doesn't seem to affect her one bit. She already found someone new so it's not like I should regret leaving her." His voice turned a little bit acidic when he brought up that point. It made Saya realize that he was actually hurt. He sighed but then composed himself. "Either way if you don't want to go out, you don't have to, I was... just hoping."

Saya shook her head, it was one thing to say no to a guy, another thing to say no to a guy in pain. Besides, if she thought about it from both sides she'd either be the girl no one thinks is good enough for Solomon, or the traitor who actually rejected the schools prince. Either way she's bound to be hated, she might as well take the route that made someone happy. "Yeah, sure Solomon, I mean, if you think you're ready, I'd be honored to be your girl." Saya blushed at the last part, still unsure this was the right path.

Solomon beamed with happiness and quickly kissed her cheek. "So what should we do my princess?"

Princess. That was going to take some getting used to. "Um, well. Would you like to see my families restaurant? I can cook you some mean ribs if you want."

"Wonderful! Though you really don't have to cook for me my dear." He said putting his arm around her shoulders and escorting her to his car.

* * *

**I just love adding the "-and Nathan-" part. Yuh know he can fit in with a pack of fangirls like it's second nature. Also I'm trying to keep the characters as close as possible to how they are in the show (while still converting them as into high schoolers) how am I doing? R&R please.**


	4. Princess

"No Solomon I refuse to get out of this car!" Saya argued crossing her arms.

Another two weeks had gone by, and this time absolutely nothing was like how it was before. Well, actually no, she was still being watched, but now she was being watched by EVERYONE. Solomon mostly. He had taken it upon himself to take Kai's place when it came to driving Saya to and from school every day and staying with her all afternoon. If it were Kai's decision Saya would of never entered Solomon's car on day one. However Gorge pulled him aside and told Kai to mellow out and let his sister have a boyfriend. Kai still gave him death stares whenever possible though.

Even when she had those rare moments where Solomon was not by her side in school; she was still treated so differently. Everyone gave her a wide birth when she walked down the hallways like she had this space bubble around her that pushed everyone away wherever she walked. Even Nathan and Kaori had a hard time being around her for long. And the whispers! She couldn't make out the words at all but she was sure it wasn't anything she would want said to her face. There was no fan club though, she felt lucky that her lack of social skills were strong enough that boys wouldn't be charmed to the schools new princess. However, when Solomon was with her it was even worse. All the girls stared at her conveying some sort of emotion: envy, hatred, betrayal.

But out of all these changes, what annoyed Saya the most was how much Solomon liked to spoil her. It started out with small things. Knick knacks like decorations for her school bag, and colorful hair extensions to give her face some extra flair. It slowly got bigger when he started buying her full outfits for school –school dress code does apply for the girlfriend of the richest boy in school—and refusing to tell her the prices on the tags. He was trying for even greater things now, like buying her, her own car –which she managed to talk him out of by arguing the point that if she had her own car then she wouldn't need his rides anymore. Of course Solomon wouldn't do anything to jeopardize any of the time he had Saya to himself—but this time he went too far.

They were parked out in front of a rather high end mall. Saya didn't expect to be there. She expected to be going out for sushi as Solomon said he was taking her, but Solomon lied. Solomon lied because he wanted to take Saya dress shopping for a ball he was confident she would go to tonight, despite her protests. And due to her previous protests he was also quite confident she would react like this when they got to the mall. He just chuckled at her stubbornness.

"Be reasonable my princess, I've already bought your ticket to the dance. You can't just go in your day clothes."

"BUT I TOLD YOU NOT TO BUY MY TICKET, THEY COST ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS." She fumed.

"I know you told me not to, but please just do me this little favor. I'd skip the dance myself if it were possible, but the social elite are expected for these sort of things. And please don't make me go alone. I would feel so lonely without my favorite dance partner."

"I can't dance, and I hate dresses" she muttered angrily down at her lap.

"It's only for the evening, and you don't have to dance much. Just one or two songs and I'll lead okay baby? And after that you can burn the dress if it really makes you happy."

Saya just huffed and tried to give Solomon an evil face. She found when she was really angry her eyes appear to flash red. However when she finally looked at him he had this pouty pleading face, which killed her attempts at anger. She just sighed, knowing defeat. "Fine fine, I'll go. But I'll take your offer on burning the dress later. And you're gonna watch it burn with me!"

Solomon's full face lit up and he grinned wide, giving Saya a quick kiss on the lips. "Oh thank you love! I'm sure we'll find something you'll love to wear." He got out the car and walked to the other side, opening her door for her.

"I seriously doubt that" she muttered while getting out.

Solomon just happily hummed as he took her into a designer shop and stuffed her into a dressing room before she was allowed to look at any price tags. He knew if she saw that not even his pouty face would keep her from running out. He gave her dress, after dress, after dress, each one seeming more and more dramatic. Finally after the tenth dress Solomon realized that Saya was not going to be happy with anything he brought her so he decided instead to choose his favorite color on her, and somehow make her wait through the night before she pulled out the torch. It was an ice blue sleeveless dress with cup shapes coming up over her chest,and the bottom poofed out past the waist point, the length ending perfectly at her ankles. When Saya walked out of the dressing room to show him, his eyes set alight and his mouth dropped to the floor. "Majestic, perfect, you look absolutely stunning my princess. Now just get you the accessories."

"Accessories?" Saya asked suspiciously.

"Yes, you need something perfect to go with that dress of course." Before she could object he pushed her back into the dressing room and skipped out of the store. Saya opened the dressing room door to follow him but couldn't get past the shops perimeters, considering she was still wearing a dress that costs 'god knows what' and she couldn't seem to find to find her previous clothes to change into.

"Curse you Solomon" she muttered. He saw her stop at the entrance of the store, and he turned to wink at her.

"I promise I'll be back soon my love", he said with so much glee in his voice. He turned back and resumed going towards the jewelry store with the smuggest look on his face.

Saya sighed, and stomped as hard as she could back into her dressing room to hide, while still managing to be careful not to tear the dress during her tantrum. Solomon had returned back to her in twenty minutes with new bags from the jeweler and some Italian named shoe shop. He slid into the dressing room with her, and put the jewelry on her. One piece was a silver tiara which was encrusted with Diamonds and Sapphires. The other piece was a black chocker that had a gem hanging down from the center. The gem so large it could cover about one quarter of her neck, it also looked like it was Sapphire. Last he pulled out a pair of shoes that were near the exact color of her dress. It covered her toes and had one strap that went around her ankle, the heel was only one inch, which made Saya appreciative for once this evening.

"What do you think Saya? Aren't you the most elegant thing this world has ever seen?" Solomon placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into the mirror with her. He was exited, she looked close to the verge of terrified.

"Solomon, please tell me that these gems are just imitation." She managed to finally groan.

"I will tell you that if it makes you happy." He chirped refusing to change his happy attitude. Saya just scowled. "I'll be right back my love" he said and kissed her cheek slipping out of the dressing room with the tag to her dress. After that was purchased she had no way out. While he was buying, Saya was trying to calculate how much each of her items would probably cost. By the time everything was ran up she stormed out of the dressing room once again managing to carefully march up to Solomon. He kept calm and composed, still chatting casually with the sales clerk who seemed mesmerized by his charming smile.

"You will return these things and you will return them now!" she hissed. "It's bad enough that you went and paid for a freaking thousand dollar ticket but this outfit has to cost five times that much."

The sales lady was a bit surprised from Saya's reaction but very amused by her estimate of the price. "Actually Miss that dress you're wearing alone costs…" Solomon put a finger over the girls mouth before she could continue. Saya's eyes started to turn red at that point as she finally managed to give Solomon his much deserved death glare.

"RETURN IT!"

Solomon sighed and shook his head, "but princess…" he pouted.

"DON'T BUT PRINCESS ME, THIS IS TOO MUCH."

"Oh please even if I spent a million dollars it wouldn't be worth as much as how beautiful you look right now." Solomon paused, seeing Saya's face soften a bit. His sweetness was practiced to perfection and he knew it. He then smirked "besides I saw something like this happen, thus why I created a backup plan."

Saya's eyes narrowed "backup plan?"

"Yes my dearest, a backup plan. Tell me something dearest, where are your clothes right now?"

Saya blinked "I… don't know".

"As expected you shouldn't know because in one of my many times going into your dressing room I took them from you. They're in the car right now."

Saya's glare returned and intensified, she imagined she probably had just as much threatening force as one of Kai's looks by now. "So you're telling me… that I have to walk out of this shop, THROUGH THE MALL, AND INTO THE PARKING LOT, like this?"

Solomon, who was internally getting a bit of a kick out of this at this time, just nodded with the same smile. "That precisely what I'm saying."

Saya crossed her arms "well then if I'm going down I'm not going alone." She smirked a bit and turned to the salesclerk. "Tell me does this shop have a mens section?"

About ten minutes later Solomon walked out of the dressing room looking quite dashing in a snow white tuxedo and a black bow tie. Saya couldn't help but half smile approvingly, though she wished there was a way to make him more publicly extravagant. There's only so much you could do with mens clothing. He took the tags off and purchased his own outfit, even though he already had a suit planned out for the evening, he would do this if it would stop Saya from fuming so very much.

"One last touch" she smirked, pulling off her tiara and placing it into his golden hair. "There, perfect."

Solomon smiled wide, glad to see Saya was enjoying herself. He wrapped his arm around hers and they both glided out into the mall heading for the exit, in full formal style.

* * *

**Oh hurray, Saya has a tiara and everything, just like a real princess :D This is all I got so far **(written most of it during a short period of no internet access) **I will try to update ASAP. I still got most the chapters running about it my head so I should continue on a roll. Anyway R&R ^^**


	5. Ballroom Blitz

They stopped once at Solomon's mansion and transferred from his corvette to an awaiting stretch limo. For Solomon it was just another day and another ride, but he couldn't help but smile at Saya's sheer awe about the inside of the car. She'd never been in anything this big and still able to be mobile. She probably would have rolled around the cars cushioned benches if it weren't for her dress. When they finally arrived at the doors however, Saya looked nervous.

"Solomon, what do I say? What do I do?" She whispered in his ear as he wrapped his arm around her walking her towards the entry.

"Just be yourself, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Saya gave him a look, "Real advice please dearest."

Solomon giggled "Okay okay. All you have to do is smile, but remember to smile politely, not like your faking being happy or else it's a little too exaggerated. Keep your voice pleasant and your tone professional. And if someone asks you how you are, just say you've been doing grand. In the elite no one really cares who you are, or how you feel, only what you're up to. Since you're not elite people should care less what you're up to. In the case you feel uncomfortable just look up to me and I can casually interrupt."

"Jeeze you got this down to a science. How'd you get into this life anyway?"

"My dad owns a pharmaceutical company, a lot of money in legal drug dealing you know."

Saya just giggled.

Solomon squeezed her arm tightly and said "here we go" as the front door was opened for them.

"Introducing: Sir Solomon Goldsmith, and Miss Saya Otonashi." A man nearly bellowed out to the room as the two of them entered. Saya gulped nervously and looked up to Solomon.

"So I'm a miss now? Don't I sound all proper."

Solomon wanted to smirk, but now had to keep his charming public smile. "Don't let it get to your head, the announcement is just customary. Anyone that enters has to be announced."

"How'd they know my name anyway?"

"I told them ahead of time that you were coming."

"So you knew all along that you'd be able to force me here?"

"Naturally"

Saya wanted to punch Solomon in the shoulder, but there were too many witnesses. So Instead she muttered "Oh yeah, and the shoes are burning too."

"Whatever you wish my princess" he whispered charmingly into her ear. He then wrapped one arm loosely around her waist and led her out to the people.

The next two hours were spent doing the same things over again. Saya thought Solomon was lying when he said he'd skip this if he could, but she was starting to see how the rich really didn't know how to party. Saya nibbled idly on some appetizers trying quite carefully to not stain her dress; which she found ironic because she intended on it becoming an overpriced bonfire tonight. But still, even Saya, who was absolutely clueless in this atmosphere, understood how much of a social failure she would be walking around in a stained dress. Meanwhile Solomon was chatting with the masses of people who all seemed to start their conversation with "Solomon darling, how great to see you!"; as if they were old friends but then immediately asked him how was business.

A few people asked Saya how she snagged the very dashing Solomon –it seemed his popularity spread outside of school—but before she could answer, Solomon insisted on telling the story. The story he told only loosely resembled the truth, and Saya pinched the back of his arm for lying. However Saya did understand how their meeting wouldn't be considered… acceptable to this line of people. Instead of him interested in her cause she didn't stare, and asking her out the day they met. In his story she was playing hard to get but it was true love the second their eyes connected. It was close enough to stop Saya from calling him out on bullshitting right then and there.

A few people asked Saya the usual question of "so what do you do?" –which is code for 'what does your family do to afford you getting here?'—She told them in honesty that her family owned a restaurant, not a chain of restaurants, just a single restaurant. Not a gourmet restaurant. It's a simple bar and grill. When the guests finally got all the facts straight they'd usually just give Saya an odd look and said something along the lines of "oh that sounds quite quaint." Then they'd go on quoting some sort of statistic about how the middleclass have more morality or lifespan anyway, as if they're trying to somehow relate to her. Saya found most the attempts quite humorous.

The only person who didn't come to greet Solomon and his socially awkward date was of course, Diva. Well, Diva and her most loyal of subjects would be more correct. There was a camp of six of them on the other side of room chatting amongst each other. The way James held Diva it looked like a mirror image of how Solomon always kept Saya close; with his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back close against him. The only difference is Solomon looked like a charming angel; meanwhile James looked like he was in pain from boredom. Almost as much pain as Saya felt inside.

"Oi, why do I have to smile like a pageant queen while he gives the room a death glare?" Saya whispered into Solomon's ear while jabbing her thumb in James' direction.

Solomon's eyes subtly drifted to James, and he just chuckled. "No one expects him to have the same level of manners. He's an army brat you know. Being a military type gives him an excuse."

"Well I'm middle class, there's my excuse!" She managed still have an arguing tone in a whisper.

Solomon rolled his eyes, and softly kissed her cheek. "But you're doing so well princess. I actually think the upper class suits you. You'll get used to it over time, I promise."

"Over time… so, there's going to be **more** of these?" She groaned.

Solomon just nodded with his confident smile already sure that Saya was going to come with him to every social outing; whether she wished to or not. He saw her face turning angry, and right before she was going to argue in a much more public volume of voice; he took her hand and twirled her around, catching her off guard. "But enough idle chit chat, time to dance my love. It is a ball after all."

He wrapped his arm around her lower back and lifted her right hand up. Saya just looked at him confused. She was dreading this part. Solomon looked as serene as ever. Saya wasn't so sure if his face was like that because he could handle it, or whether he just forgot how to un-stick his facial features after all the hours of keeping it glued on. He leaned down and kissed her forehead whispering against her skin, "don't worry my love". And as much as Saya hates letting others take control, at that moment his words charmed her into trusting him. She stood still until he took lead. She felt his movement and followed it fluidly. Before she knew it she knew how to waltz. She stopped looking down at her feet and started looking into his eyes. She could see his joy. Not the false happiness he had put on for everyone to see. No, she saw that special gleam in his eye that he only has when he was being real. He was truly delighted to be dancing with her. He stared into her as well, seeing only her. The dance floor had cleared for this obviously beautiful couple. It was pure magic… until, something -or rather, someone- caught Solomon's eye.

His movements halted, and he hugged Saya closer to his body. He leaned over her like a shield. "Don't look now but the queen is coming." He whispered in her ear. He could tell Diva was angry. She even made Solomon's fail proof confidence look like a ridged attempt at keeping cool. "Diva dear, how are you?" he asked still trying to keep that fake 'oh how wonderful to see you' voice.

"Don't you Diva dear me Solomon! You crossed the line here. Fine, you can parade her around school. Good idea. She keeps the fans away. But **this**? Really Solomon? What are you trying to prove?"

Saya turned around from Solomon's chest to look at Diva curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh common sister are you really that oblivious? You are nothing! Absolutely nothing to Solomon except and replacement for me. I mean look at you! You look just like me. It's obvious that you were supposed to be the 'new diva' since I wasn't good enough for him. Why else do you think he spoils you so much? Dresses you up in nice clothes? Don't you see that over the weeks you've been looking more and more like me?"

Before Saya could actually think on the idea Solomon squeezed her extremely tight against him. "She's nothing like that Diva. She's special. She's real. She's…"

"Oh save it for the hallmark cards Solomon, I'm not here to hear your confessions of love." Diva then turned her gaze back over to Saya. "And you! Even if by some small chance you aren't just some silly replacement, you don't want a guy like him caring for you. He will charm and manipulate you until you're putty in his hands and then he'll mold you into whichever way suits him best."

Saya felt her arms shake. She wanted so bad to just deck Diva right there. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT HIM! MAYBE IF YOU PAYED A LITTLE LESS ATTENTION TO YOURSELF YOU'D REALISE HOW AMAZING HE IS."

Diva then started to shake herself. Solomons eyes darted to James curious if he planned to step in at anytime. James didn't look comfortable in the situation; but didn't look like he had the intention to restrain Diva at anytime. _"What a typical fanboy. Won't even oppose his queen when she makes a scene." _Solomon shook his head minutely. Solomon knew this was going to have to end soon; and at this rate it wasn't going to end civilly.

"Don't… you… DARE… tell me what I don't know about Solomon!" Diva spit through her teeth putting a cold blue stare onto Saya. "I've spent two and a half years with him, and you think you could even start to tell me who he is?" Diva paused, waiting for Saya to back herself up.

"I… I…"

"You what little girl? You like him? Or better yet do you love him?" Diva laughed tossing her head back. "You cannot love who you do not know, and you're not going to know Solomon. You may think you do, but he doesn't let anything past that glued on little smile of his. You may think you're his lover trying to support your boy in his time of need; but quite honestly you're just a fangirl made into his own Barbie doll. Give up now. You're never going to result to much for anyone at this level."

"Oh, and what about James? Even if I am a Barbie doll," Saya paused to look back at Solomon who frowned upon the fact that she'd even consider such a thing. She placed a hand on his cheek and turned back to Diva using a calmer voice "which I honestly don't think I am; what is James to you? He seems like a silent accessory to carry your purse if you ask me. At least Solomon treats me well."

James grunted but made no move. But the comment through Diva off guard and sent a string of hostility through her spine. Diva's eyes flashed raging blue now as her arms shook harder. There we're no comments to be said anymore. That one finally sent the thick gasoline of tension into fire. Diva curled up her elegantly gloved hand into a fist and threw a punch.

Solomon caught this punch. Like a baseball going into a mitt. He held Diva's fist in the palm of his hand and curled his fingers around it. Diva tried to struggle her hand free. Solomon just sighed at the fierce tantrum she was having. He held her hand until she stopped struggling and cursing under her breath. When finally let go he stared Diva fiercely into the eyes like a father silently telling his daughter 'oh you're in for it now'. He then motioned to the left and the right of the scene letting Diva take in just how many quiet spectators have were watching her fit. Even the most composed of guests and businessmen couldn't help but stare. Diva looked down in embarrassment, and Solomon wrapped his arm tightly around Saya's waist once again.

"I think it's time for our exit." He said in a voice so cold Saya couldn't fully believe it was Solomon. Saya just nodded with her eyes still on Diva as Solomon slowly lead their away out.

* * *

**Yup. Diva had a hissy fit. Whheee fun right? x3 R&R please and sank chu.**


	6. Hunger

When they got inside the limo it was Solomon's turn to shake. It seemed that he used all his emotional strength to leave calmly in one piece and now desperately needed to unravel. The second he sat down he scooted next to Saya and buried his head into her chest. She blushed a little at his sudden motion but then soothingly ran her fingers through his hair while he silently sobbed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I never knew she'd react that way. Diva's so good when it comes to public appearances I never would of dreamed… anyway if I had a CLUE that would of happened I never would of taken you. I'm sorry. Please don't be angry…" He muttered this all into her chest.

Saya started to rub up and down Solomons back. "No, no, Solomon sweetie I'm not angry. I know you'd never intentionally put me through that. Relax, Relax." She spoke in the most soothing voice possible.

He then looked up in her eyes. His face conveyed more guilt than a regretful murderer. It was painful to look at. "Please, please, tell me you didn't believe a word she said."

Saya bit her cheek at that one. With everything that went on, she really didn't get time to consider what Diva said. Even though it was the ranting's of a vengeful ex, Diva's argument did seem compelling. Saya had wondered if she was a replacement from day one. It seemed a little too convenient that Solomon would fall for someone who was the spitting image of his ex. Especially with him asking her out the day he met her. But she figured it was not the time or place to challenge Solomon's intentions. He'd been through enough tonight. She just shook her head no and calmly said "of course not."

Solomon saw the hesitation through. He dived his head back into her chest and cried louder. She just sighed and rested her face in his hair. "I'm sorry" she whispered.

Solomon shook his head. "Don't be, you have the right to think like that. Like I said on day one, I probably sounded crazy."

Saya didn't like where this conversation was going. She decided it was best to change the focus. "So, what happened between you and Diva anyway? You never talk about it."

Solomon's hands balled up into fists. "Not… right now Saya"

Okay, so maybe that was a bad direction in focus. Time to try another one. "Hey you know what? We should really spend some time just the two of us tomorrow. We've been out in public for too long."

Solomon softly smiled this time. He looked back up to Saya, his features alight with bits of hope. While it was true Solomon could charm Saya into anything; it seemed the balance of power went both ways. She could make him the happiest man alive just by offering to spend more time together. "So where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Where else for some one on one time than the courts?" she grinned. They both giggled.

"Fine my dear but get ready to get your ass kicked."

When Saya got home she was glad it was too late at night for her family to compliment her on her dress or how lady like she looked. She hated being dressed up. However she did keep the dress and accessories. She shoved them to hide in the deepest part of her closet and figured if she could get the name of the designer out of Solomon she'd be able to sell her clothes on e-bay. She'd make the dress start at two thousand dollars. She had a feeling that the price would be a drastic discount, which made her shudder a bit.

The next day was a Saturday. Solomon picked Saya up around two PM and they headed to school to use its outdoor practice court. He already had new athletic shoes and a custom jersey in Saya's favorite color with him in his car. Saya gave up on arguing.

Solomon was right, Saya did get her ass kicked. Even when he was going easy on her she still only scored five points, compared to his forty. Saya accused him of cheating. He'd always ask her a silly question when she had the ball, and when she paused to think he'd steal it from her. It was all in good fun though.

The time flew by for hours, and before Saya knew it, she was exhausted. The sun was setting when she slid down to sit on the concrete and inhaled a few gulps from her water bottle. Solomon sat beside her not looking fatigued at all –of course—and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks for this" he said looking out into the courts. "It was exactly what I needed to calm my head."

Saya smiled, but then shifted her weight nervously. "Actually I wanted to be alone for a different reason."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I have a question I want to ask you."

Solomon's smile faltered a bit. This was the first time Saya seemed hesitant to say anything. He wasn't sure he liked were this was going; but still he motioned her to go on.

"Do you promise to answer honestly?"

He nodded.

"Well, I know this sounds silly to ask especially considering how much time you spend with me; but I really need to know. Did you choose me because I look like Diva? Even if I'm not her replacement did you know that choosing me would set her off?"

Solomon cocked his head sideways staring at Saya and then broke out into giggles. "Is that what you're worried about babe?"

Saya huffed and crossed her arms "It's not funny Solomon!"

Solomon just grinned and kissed her short tempered little forehead. "I will admit, when I first laid eyes on you the thought crossed my mind. Well not so much the idea of you replacing Diva, but I did think it was ironic that a girl looking just like her would catch my attention. 'Oh what a wonderful twist of fate I'm having. Now that I'm no longer with Diva, the only girl who isn't attracted to me happens to be her twin.' If you get what I'm saying."

Saya nodded looking down. Solomon squeezed his arm around her a little tighter.

"But princess, it didn't turn out that way. The second you gave me that 'your heinous' comment I already knew you were someone special. Someone who could be real around me. And you're more real than I could of imagined. You're smart, you're stubborn, you're sweet, and very beautiful. You're very real presence makes me comfortable to be myself. I know it's probably too quick for me to say this but I really feel as though I've fallen for you."

Saya looked up smiling and placed her lips against Solomons. It was a soft kiss, but Solomon lingered on her lips pressing back deeper and running his fingers through her hair. The gesture surprised Saya as she blushed and pulled back to see Solomon in a daze. He craved her, but restrained himself.

"One more question, if I'm permitted." Saya asked.

"Anything my love" Solomon responded. He was much more confident now with the change in atmosphere.

"Can you tell me, what happened with Diva?"

Solomon pulled back biting his lower lip now. He hadn't expected a question like that. But he figured he was going to answer it someday. He kept Saya in his arm but looked away into the sunset now. "Did you know, that Diva's a cousin of mine? Not blood cousins of course. She was adopted by my aunt, whom couldn't have children. Of course being part of my family means being raised with money, lots of it." He paused to sigh. "I was a lucky boy. My father being a CEO, he had plenty of spare time, and he spent a lot of his spare time with me. He raised me, and taught me manners and morals. He often sent me to make friends in 'common folks' area so I wouldn't end up being one of those spoiled rich kid types. I'm really quite blessed.

Diva however, wasn't so lucky. Like most parents with money; her parents found that raising a child was a job for the maids or child care workers. Spoiled to death she was, but she never got out to meet people, which made her quite…" He paused trying to find the right words. "I don't want to call her cynical, she seemed more uneducated to me. Like she could get along with people if only she knew how; or at least that was my thought. By the time she was in middle school her parents noticed how uncivil she was towards others. They thought the way to 'fix' her was to send her to public school. She often came to my house afterschool to visit me and complained about how everyone called her a rich brat. So I volunteered to transfer into public school with her.

She has a right to say that I'm a manipulator, because I did try to change her. I thought I was helping her. Everyday I'd follow her around trying to whisper in her ear the right things to say to make friends. When she got frustrated I'd pull her aside and try to explain what she did wrong. She was trying, and improving until…" He paused and sighed again. "Until she learned the easy way out."

"What's the easy way?" Saya asked.

"Money. Diva learned the one thing I was hoping she'd never figure out. She learned the same 'lesson' that her parents did. You don't need personality when you have money. She figured out that her key to friendship was to stop bragging about her money and start spending she spent it on whatever greedy bitch or bastard wanted it." Solomon covered his mouth, caught off guard by his own language. "Sorry princess, I didn't expect to sound so coarse."

Saya shook her head "no no, it's fine. I understand."

Solomon just nodded once. "Anyway to make a long story short ever since then Diva didn't improve. She never cared to improve either. She found she could still be 'loved' even with her cold heart and decided that being pro-social was no longer worth the effort. I knew there was no changing her, and yet, I tried to stay beside her as long as I could. Considering we grew up together she was the first person who really knew all of me. For the longest time I wasn't ready to let go of having someone like that. But our differences in how we view the world around us ended up being too great. I could no longer stand by her when she could never see the real value of another person. I'm not quite sure if she could even see the value in me near the end of it all, to tell you the truth." He sighed looking down at the ground and then squeezed Saya in his arm. He softly kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear "Of course none of this really matters now that I have you."

Saya just blushed and turned to Solomon looking him in the eyes. She was in awe of his story, and rather saddened on how he got treated in the end. "Thank you" she said in a soft voice "for sharing with me."

He smiled, softly kissing the tip of her nose. "Of course, anything for you my princess. Actually I have one other thing to share with you today."

"What would that be?"

"Come with me, and you'll see." Solomon got up and took Saya's hand, leading her along towards the school building. They hopped the fence and entered through the gym entrance. Saya halted after they crossed the gym and Solomon opened the door of the boys locker room. "What's wrong dearest?"

Saya pointed to the word "boys" on the door like it was supposed to be obvious.

Solomon chuckled. "It's seven thirty in the evening on a Saturday. It's not like anyone is in here."

"What's going on anyway Solomon?"

"You'll see soon dearest, I promise." He motioned into the room. Saya hesitantly walked in.

She looked around, unsure what could be important in a locker room anyway. "So, what did you want to show me?"

Solomon pointed to the back of the room. "My lockers number four thirty seven. Open it up, I'll be there in a second."

Saya tilted her head confused at him, but turned back and did what he said. She went to his locker and opened it up. There was nothing special in there. Just his basketball jersey, his shoes, a picture of the team on the side door. She blinked shifting around the contents to see if there's anything she missed. "I don't get it Solomon, what did you want to show me here?"

Solomon just smirked, still at the rooms' entrance. He flipped off the light switch and the whole room went pitch black. You could almost hear the hunger in his voice when he said "This".

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**I'll leave ya'll to guess what Solomon wanted to show for the time being... **(least till I have a chance to update)** For those who have patiently got to this point you'll be glad to know Haji comes back next chapter :D R&R Please and Sank chu. **


	7. My Protector

"Solomon, why'd you turn the lights off?" Saya asked obliviously.

He didn't respond though. She could hear his rushing footsteps come towards her. In three seconds he had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist pulling her against him, and he slammed his locker door shut with his other hand. He brought his lips fiercely to hers, opening her mouth and sliding his tongue inside. He moved his hand from the locker and laced his fingers into her hair. He could feel Saya's body getting hotter. He internally grinned sliding his hand from her hair, down her back and then felt his way to her ass, gripping it lustfully.

Up until this point Saya had actually enjoyed what was happening. She had found Solomon to be very attractive, and often wanted to kiss him like that. But her enjoyment stopped when his hand found its way to her ass. _"He doesn't want to make out, does he? He wants to…" _Her thoughts became silent after that point, as her lips stopped following his and she pushed one hand gently against his chest to get his attention. "Solomon, no, stop."

Solomon whined "but why Princess? I love you, and you love me too right?" He moved his mouth over to her ear, whispering lustfully into it; "Please, I want to show you how much I love you." He then started to suck on her earlobe, which caused Saya to unintentionally moan. She pushed against his chest with more force.

Saya was sure that she was being abnormal in this sort of situation. Surely the whole female population of the school –and Nathan—have fantasized about Solomon wanting them so bad that he couldn't quite help himself. But she didn't want this. She liked Solomon a lot. So much that she had considered letting him being her first. But never did she dream that her virginity would be forced out of her, in the boys locker room no less. "This… isn't… how it's supposed to go" she pleaded.

"No, right now is perfect." Solomon grinned as more excitement rose through him. He pressed Saya against the wall of lockers and started to snake his arm under her shirt, feeling up her stomach and chest. His hand went under her bra as he cupped her breast.

Saya knew it was useless, but she did the only thing she could do left. She screamed at the top of her lungs. She was giving in at that point. It was useless to fight Solomon off. But she hoped that by some miracle someone would hear her.

And tonight a miracle did happen.

A light shot through the room. It came from the boys showering area. Saya saw a tall figure silhouetted in the light, but the room wasn't illuminated enough to see his features. The boy rushed over and yanked Solomon off of Saya and gave him a good punch in the gut.

Solomon doubled over breathless, looking up at the boy "who the fuck are you?"

The voice that answered was colder than ice. "You have no idea how to treat a lady."

Solomon growled and stood strait again, bringing his arm back to try to take a swing at the boys face. The boy simply took a step back and retaliated with an undercut landing with full impact on the bottom of Solomon's jaw, making Solomon fall flat on his back. Solomon scrambled and got on all fours. The boy lifted his leg and came down on Solomon's shoulder blades forcing Solomon back on the floor, flat on his stomach. The boy kept his leg down on him so Solomon couldn't get back up. Solomon let out a cry of pain, but stayed down, reaching out. "S-Saya?"

Saya was hyperventilating now, in shock. She looked back down at Solomon, who had the most defeated look on his face. Could he really be reaching out to her? After this? "Just go home Solomon" she managed to choke out between breathes.

Solomon's face turned sorrowful "I'm sorry Saya" he cried. The boy removed his leg, giving Solomon a cold stare. Solomon crawled halfway through the room before he got up on his legs and mournfully ran out.

The boy kept his stare on Solomon till the door was closed, and Solomon was definitely gone. He then looked over Saya carefully. "How can I help you?" he asked in a much more concerned voice now.

"Who… are… you?" Saya managed to choke between her quick breaths.

The tall figure stepped away from Saya and walked over to the entrance of the room, switching on the light. When the room was illuminated she saw his gray blue eyes and wavy ash black hair. Haji. She'd never forgotten about Haji, even with all her distraction with Solomon. In all the times she wished she could see him, she was most appreciative that he'd show up tonight. However, despite being saved, she was still quite frantic. She continued hyperventilating as thoughts of how she almost got raped tonight kept flashing through her mind. Haji walked back over to her, looking at her with begging eyes trying to figure what it was she needed to be able to calm down.

"We should get you home?" he stated in a questioning tone.

Saya shook her head. "No… I can't… go home… like this."

"Then what can I do?"

Saya wasn't sure if there was really anything anyone could do. Not even Haji, who seemed to have a very calming presence around her. But she thought of one thing that might help. "Do you… remember… the song… you played… when we…"

"First met? Yeah I do. But, you want me to play?" Haji had a hard time believing now was the time for music.

Saya just nodded her head, and Haji accepted her request. "Whatever you wish, Saya." He walked over to the next row of lockers where he had his cello placed against the wall. He brought it over so he could stand close to her and started playing the sharp, but sweet tune that sounded so familiar to Saya.

Saya closed her eyes, blocking out the thoughts and emotions and focused only on the melody he played. Letting it take her away to a place that wasn't exactly happy but not sad either. Just a calm tranquility. Her breathing slowed, and she started to hum along for a few minutes before she opened her eyes to blink away a few tears. "Thank you." She whispered.

Haji just nodded and put his instrument down. He stood there silently next to her, looking at her like he was awaiting her next order for him.

Saya slumped against the locker door rubbing her head. She wasn't quite sure exactly what she wanted to do, but it seemed like a good idea to get out of the boys locker room. Her family must be waiting for her by now. "Yeah, you're right" she spoke hesitantly "I should go home." She pushed herself off the locker and Haji slung his cello on his back, standing right behind her.

"Let me walk you there." His voice got distant again "I don't want you to get into anymore trouble."

"I don't think I could get in much more trouble than this" Saya said, not meaning to object Haji's offer, but simply stating what felt like a grave truth. Haji's eyes minutely flashed with emotion again. Saya paused, did she see… sadness? "Wait, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Upset?" Haji looked down. He didn't think anyone could pick up on his breaks of composure. "I'm not upset. I just…"

"Common, let's just get home." Saya took his hand which he accepted without hesitation.

Haji had no car, so they had to walk back in the dark streets, which didn't upset Saya in the slightest. She wanted to talk to him, to tell him anything, but she couldn't find where to begin. She also wanted to ask him questions. What does he like to do? Where did he come from? Why does he always have a cello with him? But halfway through their walk one question seemed to be the most important in Saya's mind. Haji, being as long legged as he is, was striding in front of Saya this whole time, and yet, they've been going her exact route home. She stopped under a streetlight, stopping him with her.

"How do you know where I live?" She asked.

Haji stared at her looking surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You've been leading me home. How do you know where I live?"

Haji just stayed silent staring at her. Starting to internally beat on himself for making such an obvious mistake. "I'm a friend of Kai's, so I've came over a few times." He said attempting to keep his cold composure.

"No you're not. You're not Kai's type of person to hang out with. Besides I would of noticed you before."

Haji just stayed silent, unsure how to argue that point. Saya decided it was her chance to continue.

"On top of that, what were you doing in the boys locker room at night?"

"I was lifting weights, and afterward I needed a shower."

Saya looked up and down his slim body, her eyes incredulous. "You don't look like the type to spend a Saturday afternoon lifting weights." She paused, waited to see if he could counter, and he couldn't. "Look, this is going to sound crazy, and maybe I am. Anything is possible right now. But ever since I met you I've gotten this feeling like you were watching me. I couldn't find you after the first day, but even when I was so busy with family, or Solomon, I had this feeling in my spine. And you what's odd? I just noticed for the first time, now that I'm with you, I don't feel it."

Haji bit his lip and let out a sigh. _"She already figured it out, you might as well tell her" _he thought. He wrapped one arm around her back, loosely holding her against him. Saya blushed but kept her eyes on him, wanting an answer. "If I tell you the truth, you have to promise not to run away. At least let me get you home, okay?"

Saya nodded once.

"Okay, well, I'm homeless." Not the most direct way to start a story, but Haji figured it was best to give her a little background. "And being homeless has given me a lot of free time. Most of this time was spent wishing I had better things to do. I'd sit on the beach or play cello on the streets for spare cash. Not the most meaningful of existences by any means." He paused to look at Saya's face, which was filled with pure curiosity at this point. "And then, you came. There is something about your presence that felt… correct. I don't really know how to explain this because it's something I've never dealt with before. But after you left lunch that day I couldn't help but feel a drive to be by your side. I noticed that I'm very… protective about you. I don't really care if my life ends up being nothing than a silent stalker, as long as I know that you're okay." He stopped, looking Saya in the eyes, while still holding her to him. He was afraid that she was going to jolt any second now.

Saya on the other hand was honestly relieved. Though the fact that she was relieved scared her a little. "_You have a certified stalker. He's been watching you everywhere." _She tried to reason with herself, and yet, she didn't feel the least bit creeped out. She was relieved that the feeling in her spine was gone, and actually glad to know it was Haji all along. She felt a comfort around Haji that she couldn't explain herself.

Haji grew more nervous from her silence, and slowly started to uncurl his arm. "I'm sorry, I can try to stop."

Saya just shook her head, and wrapped both arms around Haji trying to lift herself high enough to kiss him. But he leaned back, away from her lips. Her eyes immediately turned to sadness and she looked down letting go of him. "You don't… like me… like that?" she asked in a defeated voice.

A new wave of self insults waved through Haji's head for causing Saya to feel such pain. He sighed and lifted her chin up to look in her eyes. His eyes were now deep and intimate like from their first contact. "It's not a matter of me not liking you Saya. Not only do I like you like that, I love you. I just… can't accept a kiss like that. If you give me that sort of attention and find out later it wasn't out of love, but rather appreciation for me saving you. Well… I don't think I could endure that."

"Why didn't you say something before?"

"I didn't want to interrupt you life Saya. You seemed so happy. You already loved Solomon and I would never take you from someone who made you happy unless it was necessary." Haji was very careful not to bring up any of the painful recent memories.

"_Happy… is that how I looked on the surface?" _Saya wondered. But then she realized, that Solomon did make her happy. But it was a different kind of happiness. Her love for Solomon was more of nurturing one than a partnership. Solomon reminded Saya of a little six year old boy who always wanted to be around mommy and cried whenever she tried to leave him with the babysitter to get an evening out. Adorable, even endearing, but at the same time, very annoying. With Haji she felt the roles reversed, like she was the one who needed him. She wondered if Haji was around her out of some feeling of necessity.

"Haji, you don't, look after me, out of obligation do you?"

He softly chuckled at her question. "I tell you that I have a near obsessive need to watch you, and you think I feel forced?"

She laughed along too, but then sighed. She really wanted to explain to him how she felt around him. How it was much more pure and natural than Solomon. But she wished to avoid using parenting analogies. She looked in his eyes, hoping they'd convey her emotion enough to make him believe her. "Yeah you tell me you follow me, and all this time I only wished you followed closer." With that line she leaned close to him again. Moving slowly, but he didn't fight now. She got on her tip toes to wrap her arms around his neck making him bow his face into hers. Their lips touched for a soft but oh so intimate kiss that lasted for a minute. By the time their lips parted Haji had his hands on Saya's waist lifting her up to him.

Haji took a deep breath from all the emotion in that soft kiss. He stared in her eyes deeply. "I love you Saya" he spoke in a deep whisper of a voice.

She smiled in response "As I love you, Haji."

He grinned and kissed her cheek before letting her down. "We should really get going."

Saya nodded and grabbed his hand again, this time intertwining their fingers. And allowed him to lead her the rest the way home.

Haji stopped when they got to the front door. "Well, I guess this is the time I go climb up your tree." He tried to speak in a joking manner, even though he was completely honest.

"Oh no you don't. No more tree sleeping for you."

Haji sighed "yeah… I guess I should stop that."

Saya grinned in response. "Indeed you should, because from now on, you're going to have a home."

Haji opened his mouth about to protest, but Saya had already swung open the doors to her families restaurant. Her father and brothers in the room watching her drag Haji in.

"Dad, can we prepare the guest bedroom? I got someone special that needs a place to stay."

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**Yeah I know. It took me forever to update. Sorry guys. But thank you everyone for all the add subscriptions and reviews. R&R this chapter today and you'll receive a free Chibi Solomon that clings to your arm saying "I love you mommy" :D**


	8. The Day After

It's common sense that the day after breakups, people feel like shit. Even if they wanted a breakup in the first place, there are always those feeling of regret or loneliness, or even rage that they let it go for that long. Saya wasn't sure if she experienced a breakup. She wasn't sure what to categorize what she went through the previous night, but her emotions didn't match those of most people in her situation.

She felt complete. As if her life had been a puzzle that was jumbled up by a four year old putting it together, and last night Haji came into play, so the four year old was replaced by someone who was much better at puzzles. Maybe Haji himself put all her pieces together. All she knew is that it felt extremely natural to see him walking down the hallway upstairs, with his hair still a mess from the previous nights sleep. Well, it felt natural, and breathtaking, Saya noticed as her heart fluttered. But still it was like he was supposed to live there all along.

It's also common sense that after a male nearly rapes his girlfriend; she would not want to see him the next day, even if the male had no intentions of actually harming her. However, like Saya, common sense didn't apply to Solomon either. Or maybe Solomon thought he was above common sense. Lord knows what was running through his head as he parked his red corvette in Saya's driveway, flashing her a nervous smile when she came out. However that smile quickly turned into a hard line when he saw the tall man walking out the door right behind her.

"You again? What are you doing here!" Solomon demanded looking up at Haji.

"I'm taking her to school." Haji said in his cold tone, wrapping his arm gently around Saya's waist.

"That's not really necessary, I can take her." Solomon motioned to his car. But no one budged. Solomon stayed leaned against his car, and Haji looked straight ahead. Saya was staring at Solomon still disbelieving he'd be here in the first place. She was lucky Kai left home early, considering she hadn't quite explained to her family what happened to between her and Solomon.

Solomon sighed after it was silent for a minute. "Look man, I thank you okay? I was wrong back there, and I'm glad someone was able to get me off Saya before I made a mistake. But I'm in control now, I promise, so could you please get my hands off my girlfriend?"

"She's not yours anymore." Haji stated with a bit of malice in his voice.

Solomon's eyes then turned saddened as he looked down to see Saya, who was still staring at him in confusion. He noted the fact that she did not struggle out of Haji's hold around her, which sent a shock through Solomon as well. "So is that how it is Saya? I make a mistake and I'm replaced? I thought I was more than that to you!"

"No Solomon it's not like that!" She instinctively tried to move forward to Solomon, to comfort him, but Haji's grip tightened against her waist and forced her closer to him. Saya wanted to explain this to Solomon, but she wasn't sure how. She was hoping she'd have more time to sort it out before she'd be confronted like that. "Solomon, I still like you."

"Then why are you with him! Look Saya, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me that night, and you deserve to be angry at me but please, let me have another chance."

Saya bit her lip. She didn't think it would be this hard to tell Solomon no. He was already starting to have tears fall from his eyes. But, as much as it hurt her to hurt Solomon, she knew where her happiness was. "Look Solomon, I forgive you. But… we just weren't meant to be."

"So that's how it is huh? You could give me a better line than that Saya! You were perfectly happy with me this whole time. I make one mistake and then suddenly you realize we aren't good for each other. REALLY?"

"Solomon please…"

"She has spoken; I think you should go now." Haji interrupted, giving Solomon that same cold stare from last night.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. A warning for you though man." Solomon looked up to Haji now, "maybe you shouldn't stick around long enough to mess up, cause if you do she might just drop you too." Solomon's voice was sinister, but then he looked down to the pavement and changed his tone so his full misery could be heard. "When that happens, I'll be waiting in the wings."

Solomon then opened his car door and shoved himself inside. He slammed his door shut giving the two one last glance of sorrow, and then raced out of her driveway and down the street.

Saya and Haji stood still in silence for a minute before Haji bowed his head down to speak softly in Saya's ear. "Was I too harsh?"

Saya just shook her head.

"You seem upset. If you wanted to go with him, I could of let you."

"No"

Haji nodded and straitened up. He then put his other hand on Saya's hips, and started to lift her up.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She asked while going airborne.

"I'm taking you to school." He said coolly, placing her up on his shoulder. She blushed as she adjusted herself to straddle the back of his neck. "I have no car so this is the least I can offer."

"You can put me down you giant! I can walk last time I checked."

"You don't like it up there?"

Saya couldn't really argue. She actually found the view to be quite fun. She'd never felt so close to the sky. Everything looked clearer up there, better, but that may have to do with the fact she was on Haji's shoulders. "No, I like it. But you really don't have to do this."

Haji just shrugged, which made Saya wrap her arms around his head for support. He chuckled at his own mistake, and wrapped his hands around her calves. He started walking towards school while Saya silently admired the new view of her neighborhood while humming Haji's cello tune.

"You really like that song don't you?" he murmured softly.

"Yes, I do. What's the name of it?"

"It doesn't really have a name actually. It can be your song, if you like."

"My song?" she was flattered at the idea.

"Yes, I think I'll name it 'Saya'."

"You don't have to."

"I know I don't, but I will."

"How'd you learn it anyway?"

"I don't know. I've been playing cello since I was twelve. One night I woke up with composure in my head, and decided to play it. Can't say I've found anyone that really likes it before you came along."

"Well I love it. It feels like my own personal lullaby."

"Maybe it was made for you all along then."

Saya smiled at this idea, and went back to humming. They were a block away from the school gates when Haji let her down. "I'd walk you like that all the way to the front door, but I figure you'd want to avoid the stares." He said quietly.

Oh no. The Stares. And not just the stares, the rumors, the accusations. Saya's morning has been so different she forgot where she was going. School was going to be hell. The commoner dumped the prince, and now she had to face the whole kingdom. It was probably good that she'd forgotten what she was getting into, or else she would of tried faking sick. What was she going to say? The beloved Solomon tried to take advantage of her? No, she couldn't say that. Even after what Solomon put her through she still cared for him. She wouldn't spread the true story around. She'd suffer silently. Tell the masses she had no comment. At least she didn't have to suffer alone. She took Haji's hand and squeezed it. "You don't leave my side until class has started, got it?"

He nodded, "I will follow you to the ends of the world, my queen."

"Enough with the royalty references!" She huffed. Haji grinned as he tugged her along into the schools gates.

Saya shook nervously, darting her eyes in every direction at the students that passed her by in the schools courtyard. Waiting for the first gasp, the first stare, the first scream maybe. But there was nothing. "_Maybe they don't recognize me without the fancy clothes and makeup." _She wondered. It had been a while since she wore the actual school uniform, after all. At this rate she figured that all the clothes Solomon gave her were going to end up in trunk; to never see the light of day again. Or burned. Actually no, they're too expensive to burn. Selling them would be better. Her mind was so occupied by the "Post-Solomon" plans that she hadn't realized that she was almost halfway down the hall without any catastrophe. Maybe she made too big a deal out of her fame. However, one person, did notice the difference.

"Well lookie what we have here!" Nathan announced with grandiose volume, even though he was right in front of the couple.

Saya immediately turned red, and nearly attacked Nathan to place her hand over his mouth "Good god do you have to be so loud! Are you trying to get me killed?" She ordered in a shushed but obviously furious tone. She looked around nervously to see everyone was still passing them by.

"Easy girl easy" Nathan whispered as he stepped back from Saya's grip. "Don't you get it. Loner boy is like an invisibility cloak. How else you think no one notices him? As long as you're with him, you're good as hidden. Speaking of being with him…"

"Could you not call him loner boy! He's right next me you know!" Saya lectured. But as Nathan looked up to Haji's face, Haji honestly looked bored.

"How do you do that, by the way?" Nathan asked looking up at Haji.

"Do what?" Haji responded distantly. Even his voice tone sounded unaffected by Nathans 'less than polite' comments.

"The whole invisibility thing."

Haji shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose it just have to do with not noticing. You don't notice people, and they don't notice you."

"So you don't pay attention to anyone?"

"Well, not everyone. There's one person I notice." He spoke with a bit of sweetness while squeezing Saya's palm. She looked up at him and smiled.

Nathan just formed a grin. A grin that Saya knew all too well. It wasn't a happy grin, it was an evil grin. It's the grin that says 'Ohhh I know what you're up to. Just wait till I can question every single detail out of you.' Which is a nearly horrifying experience for Saya. So it was a good thing that once again it's close to class time. And with a quick "I gotta go!" She ran down the halls with Haji close behind her. She already got so used to the feeling of him being near, she almost forgot to let go of his hand when she reached her classroom.

"Thanks for protecting me. Have a good class." She frowned a bit at the parting.

He took a few steps away and then whispered "I'll be thinking of you", before turning his back and strolling away.

The mere thought of him daydreaming about her overjoyed Saya to the point she wanted to jump and squeal.

The three classes that went by before lunch seemed extremely slow, but extremely fast at the same time. It was slow cause all Saya could do was think about Haji. By the end of class one, it felt like she was away from him for an eternity. But, at the same time, those tormenting hours were too short because Saya was really not looking forward to lunch.

But of course the dreaded time came, and Saya waited at the entrance of the cafeteria till Haji arrived. She absolutely would not go there alone. When Haji approached, they silently weaved their hands together, and walked in. After they got their food –or rather, Saya got her food. Even though she offered to buy Haji lunch, he refused.—Saya caught the dreaded look she knew she was going to have to deal with. Both Nathan, and Kaori sat at an empty table. Their eyes glued on Saya. It was almost a maniac look that said, 'don't you dare try running, **cause we will hunt you down**'. Saya sighed, contemplating how much of an inconvenience it is sometimes to have close friends. But still, she faced the music and sat down with them. Haji silently seating next her.

Nathan decided to play it easy for the moment. No need to dive right into questions when Saya was already nervous. Instead, he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the table where Solomon sat. Saya turned her head to see that he was once again surrounded by many girls who are happy to see him.

"Looks like some things never change." Nathan sighed.

Saya shook her head. "Poor thing, he has to pretend again."

"Pretend?" Kaori puzzled.

"Yeah, he really doesn't like the attention honestly."

"Really, it fools me." Nathan said with malice. "He seems to be enjoying himself just fine. Smile on his face and all. He sure moves on quickly."

Saya shrugged.

"DOESN'T THIS BOTHER YOU? YOU WERE DUMPED! And all you can do is shrug about it? I swear girl you're in denial. Feeling sorry for him, cause you think he's pretending to be happy without you! What if he's truly happy without you?"

Haji flashed Nathan a cold stare, but said nothing. Saya just shook her head.

"Nathan, I wasn't dumped."

"SO WAIT YOU DUMPED HIM?" Nathan and Kaori shouted in unison astonishment.

"No it's not that either~! It's… it's hard to explain really."

"What? Did lone… I mean, Haji, come out of nowhere and sweep you away from Solomon? Banishing you from seeing Solomon ever again or something?" Nathan accused wildly.

Haji's eyes narrowed. "I'd never do such a thing." He spoke in an annoyed tone, for once.

"Then what happened?" Kaori asked.

Saya was burying her face in her hands. She wished she could ask what kind of story Solomon was giving, so she'd have a matching excuse. Even if she had to agree that she crushed his heart and eloped with another man. Anything was better than trying to think of something believable.

Amazingly for her, she was saved from the inquisition, by none other, than Diva. Saya never thought there'd be a day that she would be happy to see Diva come her way. But in this case, any distraction would be welcomed. Diva had a bewitching smug look on her face as she leaned against the table, looking into Saya's eyes.

"Like I told you before girl, you're just a puppet." It was near sickening, even Diva's tone sounded demeaning.

Saya didn't want to argue the specifics with Diva, so she faked a defeated tone. "Yeah, just a puppet. You were right."

"I hope you had a fun ride while it lasted." Diva cackled and just turned away striding back to her fan base.

Nathan blinked in confusion. "So… what was that about?"

Saya, -who might of reached the point of hysterics by now—started to laugh. "My my, there is a lot you guys have missed."

* * *

**Authors Note: I had gotten a review a few chapters back saying "Oh no! Solomon's evil?" I was hoping that this chapter will clear that up. No Solomon's not evil. I mean we all have separate opinions on him, but for the purposes of this story, he's not evil. He's just a stupid horny teenage boy who wasn't used to getting "No" as a response. And stupid horny teenage boys happen (unfortunately x3). Anyway, R&R ^^. Next chapter Saya and Haji's relationship will progress. I promise.**


	9. His Greatest Present

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Saya asked, watching the light snowfall out the window. She and Haji were kneeling together on her bed. Haji was hugging her softly from behind, and resting his cheek on top of her head, gazing out the window with her.

A month has gone by, and Saya's vibrant and turbulent fall had transitioned to a cool and cozy winter. Cozy being the emphasis. Her whole life had just become comfortable, almost easy. Saya's family took in Haji with open arms. Well, at least Gorge and Riku did. Kai of course, seemed disgruntled over the idea of letting a boy into the home. "Especially" since this boy had a thing for Saya. While it was not required of him, Haji insisted on working every night at the restaurant as payment for staying at the house.

Haji was even taken into Saya's group of school friends without much issue. Though he didn't vocally contribute very much into the group. Not like **anyone **could really talk over Nathan. But still, Haji had his own spot at the table next to Saya, and Kaori was kind enough to usually ask Haji how his day was. Even Nathan showed interest in Haji sometimes. Nathan would ask random questions, like wondering out loud what Haji was thinking when Haji had a blank look on his face. Saya sometimes wanted to slap Nathan for his bluntness, but Haji didn't seem to mind the questioning.

The two of them didn't have to deal with the others right now though. Winter break had just started, so they stayed inside and enjoyed each others company. A completely peaceful and serene time for both of them. Though, there was just a little something that nagged Saya in the back of her mind.

"Yes it is." Haji murmured, glancing at the reflection of Saya's face in the window, instead of actually looking at the snow outside. "It's so very beautiful."

"The holidays are close. Have you thought of anything you want for Christmas?" She asked enthusiastically.

"No."

"Well you should do that soon. If you don't figure what you want, then no one will know what to get you."

"But I don't want anything." Haji shrugged.

Saya sighed. She knew she'd get an answer like that. "Well I want to give you something." She pouted.

"You've given me enough already." He argued.

"But it's going to be Christmas. Why can't I spoil you just that one day?"

Haji just shook his head with a 'what am I going to do with you?' sort of expression. He then nuzzled his face back into Saya's hair, and kissed the top of her head sweetly.

Saya couldn't help but smile, even though it was apparent she wasn't going to get an answer out of him. She stayed there in silence for a moment, looking back out the window. "Hey Haji…"

"Yes?" he muttered, with his face still pressed against her hair.

"What were your holidays like?"

He lifted his face, and tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"What was Christmas like, on the streets?"

Haji rolled his eyes. "They're nothing interesting. Not all that much to celebrate when you're homeless."

"So you didn't celebrate at all?"

"Well… not exactly. We did sort of have a get together. And we'd try to pool enough money to get some wine for the occasion."

Saya turned around to face Haji, looking up at him curiously. "We?"

"Yeah, me and my family I guess you'd call it. A lot of us banded together."

"You had a family out there?"

Haji just nodded.

Saya grinned, finding this more and more interesting. "Can I meet them?"

Haji blinked. "Why do you want to?"

"Cause they're the people that raised you duh! I want to know the people that were important to you before."

"I swear you're not missing out on much. My past wasn't all that interesting."

"Well humor me. Come on, you see my world every day. Please let me see yours." Saya begged.

"You are my world Saya, that's all there is to it." He replied sweetly but stubbornly.

"Haji! You had a life before me."

"Not really."

"PLEASE!"

Haji just broke out into laughter. He was actually flattered that Saya was so persistent in learning more about him; even though he found his past life insignificant now. "Fine, fine. You want to see my world? I'll give you a tour." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Saya beamed happily "When?"

"When do you want to?"

"Now!"

Haji softly laughed again, and wrapped his arms tightly around Saya before leaning back, making them both fall over laying horizontally across the bed. "But I'm so comfy" he softly tried to pout.

Saya smiled up at Haji while she laid on him. She then brought her face up to kiss his forehead. "We have all the time in the world for snuggles dearest. But for now, you'll have to deal with being comfy later, because I want to go." She flashed him a playful smile then rolled off the bed, and walked out the door, heading towards the coat rack.

They spent fifteen minutes quietly walking down the main streets hand in hand, until Haji made a turn, and started heading into alleyways between shops and apartments. Saya kept close to Haji. Still it was a little unnerving for her. Every minute they walked down these paths, they seemed to be going deeper and deeper into the core of some unknown territory. She looked around and saw people laying there with tattered clothes; trying to keep warm on the cold snowy streets. She wondered how it was possible Haji belonged to such a place. How, in all his elegance and beauty; he could ever of belonged in this ugly and tattered world. Saya did feel guilt though, for casting such judgments on those people. Especially considering it was her choice that led her there, and this used to be Haji's home.

Haji finally stopped at a section of dark pavement surrounded by three building walls, a dead end. This space was the size of about two closets put together, and it had white chalk marks all over. It took Saya a minute to realize, but the chalk formed shapes that looked like a crude aerial view of a bedroom. There was a large rectangle in the center, with pillows drawn on the end that faced the wall. On the side there was one rectangle that Saya could only guess would be a dresser, and then there was also a table drawn, with small dishes and tea cups as decoration. Saya walked around the space a few times looking everything over with a puzzled look.

"What is this?" She asked, looking up at Haji who was standing at the 'entrance' marked by the solid line only interrupted by an opening the size of a standard door.

Haji's face blushed with embarrassment "well you see… it's umm…"

"It's his dreams." A voice called out from a few yards behind him. They both turned towards the voice's origin.

A woman was strolling towards them. Saya looked up and down the stranger. She was tall, with long black hair, that went down her back, shining with a bit of a purple glint in the small amount of sunlight struggling through the dark surroundings. She looked to be older than both Saya and Haji, maybe in her early 20's. She had a very pronounced chest, and slightly muscular arms and legs. All these features made her seem impossibly beautiful. Someone who could actually be in the same league as Haji, Saya thought. Which is why Saya felt a lump of jealousy form as the woman walked up to Haji, and gave him a soft hug ending with a pat on the back. "Where have you been stranger? You should thank me you know. I've been fending off all these other bums trying to steal your room." She spoke with a rough voice, very unfeminine, like it was natural to sound tough.

Haji let off a soft chuckle, and put on a serene smile. "Well that's very nice of you Chieko, and I do thank you. However I don't need this place anymore." He then turned back to look at Saya, motioning for her to join his side.

"Oh?" the woman mused. Her face looked a little more mischievous, than surprised, "and I take it this little girl has to do with it." She tilted her face at Saya, who made her way next to Haji, lightly clinging his arm. Chieko gave Saya a once over look. Her impression obviously not as impressed as Saya thought of Chieko.

Saya felt her self image shrink at the 'little girl' comment, but still Haji answered in the most angelic voice. "Indeed Chieko, you see, this girl has made my dreams come true." Saya blushed softly, still not getting over Haji's flattery, even though he tended to compliment her daily.

Chieko's eyes looked over Saya again -more closely this time- in a sort of confused manner. Like trying to figure what it was Haji saw in her. After thirty seconds she just smirked, and reached out to nearly slap Saya on the shoulder. "Well you're one lucky lady. May I ask, what's your secret?"

"M-my secret?" Saya stammered. Alarmed by Chieko's aggressiveness.

Chieko looked back up to Haji, still keeping her hand on Saya's shoulder. "You mind if I talk to your girl privately for a bit?"

Haji narrowed his eyes, giving her a suspicious look. "What… for?"

"Oh nothing special, just gonna gossip about you for a bit" she said mischievously. She then nearly yanked Saya's arm off, dragging her along back up the alleyway and around a corner, giving Saya barely enough time to look back at Haji with a face that read 'help me'.

Haji just sighed and brought his palm to his face as they disappeared from sight.

Chieko let Saya go as soon after they rounded the corner. Saya rubbed her upper arm gingerly from the strain of being tugged. Chieko gave her a look and considered mocking Saya's obvious lack of toughness, but instead decided to keep quiet and edge along the wall to peak at Haji, making sure he wouldn't follow. When she looked, Haji was walking towards them; but after three steps, he paused, faltered, and then retreated back to his makeshift chalk room. Though, by the time he got back to his room, he was already turning towards them again. Once again taking a few strides in the direction towards Saya, then pausing and turning around. Chieko started snickering watching Haji's internal debate on whether to save Saya, or to trust his mischievous friend.

"You've got him tied into some serious knots." Chieko said in a soft low tone, inclining her head to Saya's face. Though she refused to look completely away from Haji's performance.

"What do you mean?" Saya asked, still completely confused why Chieko wanted her private audience.

Chieko motioned Saya to stand next to her. Saya hesitantly crossed over, and leaned against the building wall where she could also see Haji, while still hiding in the shadow. Haji's indecisive battle was turning into a fast paced back and forth pace by now. Saya tilted her head curiously, her eyes full of confusion at Haji's actions. "Just look at him girl. Look at his face! He looks almost scared that he's not by your side."

Saya looked closer and did notice all the details; it didn't look right on Haji. His face was always so serene, so god like. Even when he seemed spaced out he was still beautiful. But right now his complexion was all off. His brows were pulled down, the muscles of his cheeks seemed strained, and he was biting his lower lip. It was such a surprise for her, that it took her a minute before she could mutter out a response. "Yeah, I suppose it would be a little disorienting for him not to see what I'm up to." _Considering the fact that he's been stalking me since the day we met. _Saya almost accidentally added onto her answer.

Chieko finally turned completely away from Haji's scene, and analyzed Saya. "Not to sound rude, but you don't seem all that special."

Saya blinked, taking a moment to figure how such a comment could be construed as "not rude", but decided that it wasn't the point at the moment. "I'm… sorry?" she just answered in a somewhat confused voice.

Chieko just sighed, her face becoming irritated. "You don't really get it do you? Look, there's a lot more going on here than you think." Chieko continued her thought before Saya could even open her mouth to answer the question. "You see, Haji's different now, I can tell already. It's obvious really…" she let out somewhat of a sad laugh. "I guess you wouldn't know, but I've never seen him like that. Haji's always been a kind soul, a pure gentleman. Amazing I tell you, considering the lousy bunch of fools he's been living with, me included. But as sweet as he is, I've never seen him so… alive, like that. His kindness was always on the surface, but I've seen no one actually get under that skin of his. He's seen people come and go. People try to pick him up or beat him down. But with the passing of each person, he's always seemed indifferent. Hell I love the boy more than what's good for me, and he still left without a trace, this is the first I've seen him in weeks!" She tugged a strand of her long hair in frustration, and took a deep breath trying to clear her mind. "But you, you're special. I don't see why, but he does. You're probably the first person he's ever become attached to since his parents left him."

Saya turned back to look at Haji, after Chieko finished her speech. Saya was in complete awe at this moment not quite focusing on Haji's image in front of her, but instead imagining his loneliness, for all those years. She tried to imagine what his face would look like if he was completely indifferent, but it just didn't fit with the Haji she knew. "Was he happy? When he had his family?" She finally managed to whisper.

Chieko shrugged, "I didn't know what he was like before then. I only met him on the day **"it"** happened. Here was this eight year old kid, on the streets, bawling his eyes out. When I went up to him, and asked what's wrong, he said he was trying to find his parents. That they tried leaving him at some doorstep, and told him they couldn't keep him anymore cause they didn't have the money. Seriously, WHO DOES THAT? It's their kid for Christ sakes, and they make it sound like he's just some financial burden. Something they could cut back on, like getting rid of their cable subscription so there's less bills" Chieko was seething. "He tried to chase them down after they drove off, but of course he never found his way back. I've tried to be a big sister to him ever since, but I'm not sure anyone could imagine what it feels like to be cast away like that."

"I could…" Saya muttered. Though she knew her pain was nothing compared to Haji's, she did know what the situation could feel like. She loved George, and always looked to him like he was her own father. She never thought anything less of her makeshift family just because she was adopted into it, just like her brothers. But still, she sometimes wondered what her family was like. If she had any siblings, and if she did, were they staying with their biological parents unlike her? And why did her parents get rid of her in the first place? Even though Saya tried not to dwell on such subjects, she did understand the mystery, and the potential pain of it all.

Chieko softly shook her head, not believing Saya's words. "Anyway…" she braced Saya's shoulders, and forced Saya to turn strait so their bodies were facing strait on. Saya felt uncomfortable in Chieko's grasp; and even more uncomfortable when she noticed Chieko's narrowed eyes, and the near angry strait line in her lips. "Look, he's in your hands now, I get that. But you better not do anything to hurt the boy, you hear! I don't care if he does beg me to leave you alone, you have my guarantee right now that I WILL hunt you down if you dare send him back here more broken than before." She was threatening through clenched teeth.

Saya stayed perfectly still, with wide eyes, and simply nodded twice. She was afraid to speak at the moment. Chieko took a deep breath, and grinned letting Saya's shoulders go. Saya took a few steps back, hoping to get out of grabbing range without irritating Chieko again.

"C-can I ask you a question?" Saya timidly spoke after twenty seconds of silence, in which it looked like Chieko had returned back to her smug attitude.

Chieko cracked an even bigger smile at Saya's small quivering voice. "Yeah sure, what is it kid?"

"Do you know, if there's anything Haji really wants? I want to give him something good for Christmas. Something that's perfect for just him."

Chieko laughed softly, and then shook her head in disappointment. "You still don't get it, do you kid?"

"You're my greatest present." A deep soft voice said.

Saya and Chieko turned to see Haji leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the mouth of the corner they were hiding in.

Chieko pointed at him dramatically, "EAVESDROPPER!"

Haji just smirked, "only heard the last part I assure you. Still trying too hard as always I see, Saya." He motioned her over. She walked over to him, and he wrapped his arm possessively around her waist, then flashing a look to Chieko. "Mine now" he said humorously.

"Hey! I was planning to return her… in one piece." They both laughed.

"Yeah sure" Haji rolled his eyes, pretending not to believe her. "Anyway Chieko, I got a favor to ask you."

"Of course, anything bro."

"Do you still have some of my chalk left with your stuff?"

Chieko did have some. And so in celebration of Haji finding a real home, they decided to put Haji's old room up in the real estate business. With chalk in hand Haji squatted down on the concrete, and wrote a sign that said "FOR SALE" a few feet away from his doorway. Chieko laughed, and said she'd make sure that the place wouldn't be sold to any sort of scum. With that settled, Haji and Saya departed back to their home.

* * *

**Once again I'm sorry for my laziness. It took me a while to figure out what to do with the plot. I was on a rolling ball of momentum for the beginning of the story. Like my head was moving faster than I can write. First day, then Solomon, then the ball, then the break up, bam bam bam bam, annnddd now, her and Haji are together. Now what...? Lol I forgot to think about what happens after that part. But don't worry folks, I had that "~gasp~ then ingenious flash of idea's" moment. So I do have something planned from here.**

**Also thank you all for all the subscriptions, favorites, and reviews. It means a lot to me that people like my work. And without all that I probably wouldn't bother to continue xD. So please keep sending them ^^.**


	10. Dreams

It was dark, but not too dark. The time of evening when the sky still seemed to be turning blue, and you could still make out shapes without the lights on. A small girl was running down the streets, she looked to be a toddler and her coordination wasn't all too good, but still she kept moving. She didn't know what streets she was on, but she just kept running, screaming "Mommy! Daddy! Wait! Don't leave!". She couldn't see them. She could only see the back of their shoes, and their legs as they were walking away. She didn't know why she knew it was her parents that belonged to those legs, she just knew. She ran for what seemed like forever, and even though her parents' legs didn't seem to pick up pace, the space between them seemed to slowly expand. This whole time she was fighting a crowed. A seemingly endless stream of people walking the opposite direction. She constantly struggled as she tried to push herself through the sea of tall moving legs. She could sense relief though, like she knew the crowed was close to over, so she could catch up soon. She pushed herself harder through the stranger's legs running head first, and when she finally broke through, she fell. Her own forward momentum was her downfall. While her stomach hit the pavement she crossed her arms in front of her face to protect it. By the time she looked up, she could barely make out her parents shoes that seemed like an eternity away. "Please… not again" the child whispered as a tear welled up in her eye.

Saya's eyes flew wide open.

"Merry Christmas", she softly muttered to herself sarcastically while she turned in her bed to look at her alarm clock. 4 AM it said, way too early to start the day, but she already knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep. She sat up, and turned on her bedside lamp, her mind still foggy in the dream. She'd had similar dreams before when she was a little kid, but it made no sense to her why'd she was having them now, when she's completely comfortable with the family she has. She softly sighed, and started to wonder what her "parents" were up to. If they would have a nice Christmas, or if they were living in a shelter that had cheap decorations up in the halls. Maybe they weren't together at all. It'd been a long time since she seriously thought about family, but now that she did, it reminded her of something Solomon told her the day "it" happened.

"_Did you know, that Diva's a cousin of mine? Not blood cousins of course. She was adopted by my aunt, whom couldn't have children." _ She gasped as she thought about it, and went to her closet to find an old student calendar of her grade level. It was a project of the student council to put every students birthdays on it. She flipped to February and her eyes widened. "February 17th Birthdays: Saya Otonashi and Diva Goldsmith" she whispered to herself. "Sisters…". Saya sat there as a shiver went down her spine and an audible shudder left her mouth. _"So… 'our' parents left two people behind. That must have been hard all at once. Maybe that's why they left… 'us', going from zero to two might be overwhelming. I can understand that, but, it didn't seem to end up so well for Diva". _Her contemplation was interrupted as her bedroom door was quietly opened, and Haji stepped in. There was a cheap, red, Santa hat with a white fuzzy ball placed on his untied, wavy ash black hair, and the only other clothes he wore was a pair of monochrome plaid flannel pajama bottoms, leaving his slim pale chest exposed in the light. Saya softly blushed as she laid eyes on him, while he quietly closed the door.

"Merry Christmas" he said in his deep whisper, and moved to sit on her bed, picking her up and placing her on his lap. "What's the matter?"

Saya softly smirked; Haji really did know her too well. "Nothing."

"You lie"

She rolled her eyes, and pointed to the day on the calendar. Haji looked at the text and mimicked the shudder Saya made before he came in. "I can see why that would keep you up at night. Though, I've always been suspicious of the relationship."

Saya shook her head. Even without the name "_sisters_" mentioned, the idea that there was any sort of 'relations' with Diva didn't sit right in her consciousness. "That's not what woke me up though."

"What did?"

Saya got up from Haji's lap, and turned to look at him. But when she did, the explanation of the dream she had went blank. Everything went blank. All she could see were those piercingly intense dark eyes looking at her, and the perfect flow of skin and muscle flowing down from this thin face to his neck, his angular shoulders leading down to his slightly toned chest, subtly horizontally narrowing on each side to his soft stomach. She made an audible gulping sound as a fresh deeper blush painted over her cheeks. She wished she kept her lamp off at this point. She can only imagine the amount of restraint Haji had to use, to be able not to smirk at her reaction just from the sight of him. She glanced down, not wanting to meet his eyes, her look of embarrassment would probably send him over the edge. She fixated her eyes on his ankles, of all things, and took a deep breath, trying to restrain herself from mumbling under her breath out of nervousness. Finally after a long moment, which, would probably be extremely awkward, if it was around anyone but Haji –only because of the fact that Haji is so patient and natural around her, he simply deflects almost all awkwardness—she held up one finger to him, close to his face, and quietly said "give me a moment", before shuffling her feet back towards her closet, and conceals herself behind a fold out paper dressing wall.

She rubbed her face, seeming to try to force out the mental daze. She wasn't quite sure why she hasn't reacted to Haji like this before. Haji isn't exactly the most modest of people around the house, and often, walked down hallways or lounged around his room shirtless. So why the big deal now? Maybe, because it's Christmas, and Saya couldn't come up with that perfect gift for him. Or maybe if she is his greatest gift, it'd be perfect to literally give herself to him. Maybe it's because she knows the family sleeps in on holidays, and the two of them would be undisturbed till ten in the morning. Maybe it's none of these things, maybe it's just the right time. Either way it was obvious she wasn't going to escape the confusion anytime soon. On top of the confusion, there was anxiousness, and nervousness. The overall combination of panic almost overruled the other physical and emotional forces that stirred her. Almost, but not completely. However the panic did seem to be taking over her body as her arms softly shook, and her mind became a jumbled mess as she threw off her pajamas, and yanked open a drawer full of undergarments stored in a small dresser in the corner of her closet. _"White? No, seems too innocent. Maybe pink? Or does that seem too girly? And why is it that I have so many pieces of underwear that don't match anything!" _She thought as she tossed five pairs of multicolored underwear with small flower patterns onto the ground angrily. After frustratingly realizing her undergarments lack any sense of detail, or lace, or anything of sexual appeal, she lets out a huff and puts on a plain black bra/underwear set made out of a shiny fabric that she assumed was supposed to imitate silk. She took a deep breath, even though there was no mirror in the corner she felt like something was missing. It wasn't enough 'flair' for the occasion. She looked along the floor and found something perfect, right under her foot.

"Is there something wrong Saya?" Haji asked quietly, his eyes glued to the silhouette of her figure through the paper wall. Amazingly, his mind was still pure during this whole time, –aside from his staring-. He assumed her sighs and noises of frustration was just part of having a particularly hard time deciding what she wanted to wear that day.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine" She said, but not very convincingly, as she wrapped a three inch wide, bright red, cloth ribbon around her stomach two inches above her hips, and tried to tie two bows so it would have four loops. "Try" being the word of interest. They looked sloppy and some loops were more lopsided than others. She considered re-doing them, but she knew she was taking to much time, so instead she locked her arms to her sides and slowly, stiffly, forced her legs to tread, one in front of the other, her thighs pressed tight against each other, like a moving plank, in undergarments… and a ribbon.

Despite her obvious lack of seduction tactics, the view of Saya itself froze Haji just as rigid. He flew into a sort of mesmerized shock, as his eyes immediately focused on her chest, and slowly made their way down to her soft stomach, a twitch of a grin forming at his lips as he noticed the bright bow covering her navel. Finally they traveled down the slight curve of her hips, perfectly enclosing the black triangle of clothing between her hips and her firm, long, thighs.

In all her nervousness, Saya misjudged Haji's reaction to be something of fear. The blow takes her aback, but all she can think to do is mutter "Merry Christmas" and put on an nervous smile, while sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him. He wordlessly wraps an arm around her, pulls her back on his lap to face him, and starts to rub up and down her back, carefully staying in the designated areas between her sparse pieces of clothing.

Saya internally sighed, but tried to keep the disappointment off her face. She started to think back and realized that Haji never seemed to want any sort of sexual attention from her. True he's never mentioned anything against it, but then there's always the fact that even she's fully clothed, Haji's always kept his hands in safe areas. Never too high, never too low, and he didn't seem to want more, than to be close together and share affectionate kisses. She started to wonder if this was something she should of discussed with him first. Even though she knew at that moment, it would have been an impossibility. She could barely focus her mind enough to get dressed, let alone get a sentence out of her mouth about her intentions. She shifts uncomfortably against his lap, about to ask if this was a stupid idea, until she felt a small pressure poking against the front of her underwear from below. The relief that came from such a reaction is enough to make Saya break into laughter, while Haji softly blushes under his skin, still silent as ever.

"Say something!" she finally tells him. Though her tone isn't at all annoyed. She was still amused at Haji's desperate attempts to conceal his reaction.

Haji's lips seemed to quiver, and he tilted his head as he tried to refocus his eyes on Saya's face, and her face only. "What a lovely… gift… you've given me…" he managed to say in a sort of puzzled tone.

Saya only seemed to get more and more comfortable with the situation, as Haji got more and more embarrassed with it. "It's okay to open it you know. Your gift that is."

Haji nodded, and managed to keep his hands steady as he slowly tugs on the bows and unwrapped the rest of the ribbon from around Saya's midsection. He then slowly started to rub his palms up and down Saya's stomach still keeping in between the lines of her waist and bra. His expression revealing that he was getting some sort of pleasure jolt just soaking in the soft feel of her exposed skin.

Saya started to giggle, "Are you always this slow to start?"

Haji tilted his head quizzically, a bit of surprise breaking through his embarrassed shock. "Always? I… wouldn't know… I've, never done this before."

This comment took Saya aback, though Haji never mentioned having mates before, she always assumed he'd have some experience. Being tall, handsome, and irresistible in his own way. Not to mention he grew up on the streets. She didn't mean to demean the way he grew up, but really, being homeless, having no rules, no parents, nothing much better to do with spare time. No one to judge, because there's no one to tell. So why not make hot love somewhere deep down in the neglected alleys? Surely considering Chieko's overt affection for Haji, it'd be easy for him to spend his evenings with that rough, sexual ,lady. Surely Chieko would've loved to take him in her naked arms and… Saya let out a soft shudder, realizing she didn't quite like the avenue her mind was wandering to.

"Something wrong love?" Haji said quietly, looking into Saya's zoned out eyes.

She shook her head, and looked back into his deep grey blue eyes, the focused look that he only gives her. His eyes made her feel fluttery and slightly woozy. Quickly her cheeks were painted pink once again. "I'm sorry, I'm just… so, I'll be your first one?"

"My first, and only, my love."

Saya was speechless, and overloaded with affection. The type that erases the nervousness and fills her with the pure desire to pull him closer. She drew in and stole his lips, deeply, firmly, kissing, starting to rock her hips back and forth against his lap. Haji gripped her back tighter, pulling her closer till their bodies meshed together. His chin and neck pressing in between her breasts. He kissed back passionately, moving his lips to lead Saya's mouth open, letting their tongues tangle. When their lips parted, he looked into her eyes, his expression was still dazed, his breathing already a bit heavier.

"You don't have to…"

Saya let out a sigh of exasperation "But I want to."

"Are you really sure?"

"Haji! What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not… afraid… I just." Haji deeply sighed, "We've only been together for five weeks you know. Which isn't all that long. And I'm, **extremely, **attracted to you, but I really didn't want you to feel pressured or rushed like…"

"Like Solomon did?"

Haji just silently nodded and kept looking at her with concern. "I've been really careful not to... make the same mistake."

Saya looked down for a moment, and then placed her palms on the sides of Haji's cheeks, softly petting his face with her thumbs, making sure she kept his attention. "Haji, my love, you don't think… I mean, you didn't believe… what Solomon said before… about making mistakes. You know I care for you soooo much, that I wouldn't leave you just because you'd make a mistake right? I'd never…"

Haji put a finger to Saya's lips, "of course I know. Don't worry. I haven't been restraining myself because I thought you'd leave. I trust you. I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I love you, I don't need your body. Don't get me wrong I'd enjoy it but… god I'm just talking myself in circles by now aren't I?"

"No, no, I get it, I get it" She cooed, and continued to pet his cheeks. She leaned her face down and nuzzled into his hair and then softly laughed, smirking. "The moments totally gone now isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, completely" Haji replied, finally relaxing and speaking in an amused tone.

Saya softly sighed "I guess I should get dressed now."

"Or you could stay here like this for a bit, I'm good with either way."

Saya softly laughed and tilted her head down to softly kiss Haji's lips. They silently stayed in each others arms, in complete peace for an hour and a half before Saya changed back in her pajamas. They then laid together in her bed, fading in and out of sleep for a few hours till there was ruffles of noise going through the hallway made by people getting up and getting ready for the holiday. They came out of her room together, hands intertwined, unashamed. Kai passed by and gave them a dirty look.

"What? We couldn't sleep" Saya said, a bit defensively, but mostly a smartass remark.

Haji just stood there and laughed, as Kai passed by.

The two of them went downstairs to the restaurant that was going to be closed until the evening. In the back corner was the modest family tree adorned with gifts. They sat at the bar sipping on soda when there was a rapping on the door. Saya unlocked it to see Mao.

"Hi there, I just came by to say Merry Christmas to Kai." She said as she walked in.

"Well Mao I think he's in the shower right now actually." Saya admitted.

"Oh, that's fine, I'll just wait for him in his room upstairs." She then took off her overcoat, revealing a very snug fitting strapless bright red sweater dress, trimmed with fake white fur on the top barely covering her cleavage, and the bottom barely covering her thighs. She left the coat on the back of a bar stool and flitted up the stairs in a pair of red high heels.

"Like he has the right to give us looks" Saya muttered under her breath.

Haji just laughed, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek.

Saya and Haji waited another forty five minutes before Gorge and Riku made it down stairs, and started making breakfast. Kai and Mao headed downstairs together but Mao immediately grabbed her coat, and wished the family adieu because she had to head back home to spend the holiday with her family. For the next ten minutes afterwards Kai refused to make eye contact with Saya. Haji just couldn't stop smirking about the whole situation. They had some nice omelets and opened their gifts. It was a modest Christmas, but no one felt bad. Haji got a few new vests/dress shirts/ and ties. Because he seems to like to dress formally on the average day. Saya got some new CD's from bands she liked and movies she wanted. Kai got a few new weapons that he wanted for his "collection" of purely "visual" purposes. How Gorge never figured out what type of crowed Kai hangs out with is a mystery. Riku got some walkie talkies to share with his friends, and some decorative room pieces. The kids combined their allowances from restaurant work to give Gorge a day pass to spa. After all gifts were opened and thank you's given, they all changed to their outdoor clothes and –even though they had to practically drag Kai outside—they sang carols to passerby's and passed out free soup to those stuck on the streets, in the cold, nearby the restaurant.

After the required family time, Saya and Haji gathered one more large container of hot soup and went to another part of town to visit Chieko; who accepted their gift after some resistance. She was obviously uncomfortable with anyone's sympathy, even if it was Haji himself handing the container over to her. She took it under the claim that there was other mouths to feed, and she'd distribute it when everyone else gathers.

In the evening, Gorge reopened the restaurant, keeping mostly the bar busy. Most the people who came on Christmas evenings were very lonely souls that had no one to spend time with at home. They simply came to drown out their own self loathing, and pretend to not be so alone by hanging out with all the rest of the lonely people. Gorges "friend" Forrest was there. "Forrest the whiner", as most people called him. A pathetic man whom should of never made it in the marines. He always came to the bar to talk to Gorge whenever an issue arises, which is often. Today he was chatting up Gorge about how he wishes he knew how to get back with Raymii, his ex-girlfriend. Thing is, if Forrest ever spent a little less time his head stuck in a self loathing hole, he'd realize the woman is still in love with him. Why that is, no one else is quite sure. The bar stayed open till midnight before everyone was sent home. Then the tired family cleaned up the bar and went upstairs to bed.

That night, Saya had the same exact dream, except it wasn't her that was chasing after her parents. Instead it was a very young boy, with ash black hair, and grey blue eyes chasing after those impossible to catch pairs of legs. And there was the bodiless voice of what sounded like a rough woman, voicing over the dream "When I went up to him, and asked what's wrong he said he was trying to find his parents. That they tried leaving him at some doorstep and told him they couldn't keep him anymore cause they didn't have the money. Seriously, WHO DOES THAT? It's their kid for Christ sakes, and they make it sound like he's just some financial burden. Something they could cut back on, like getting rid of their cable subscription so there's less bills"

* * *

**Another day, another physical tease XD. Sorry folks I actually planned on it "happening" all the way but good stories write themselves I believe. ****Nearly half the details just flow from my fingers. Anyway, enjoy, review, and pray to god I can keep motivated enough to continue onto the next chapter :P**


	11. Caught in a lie

Saya sat on her bed staring at her cell phone with great intensity. It's the seventh day she's done this, due to the fact she hadn't had the courage to type in Solomon's number and press 'call' the other six previous days. His number had been saved in her phone since he entered it in her contacts list the first week they were dating, but she hadn't used it. In fact, they haven't really said a word to each other ever since the morning after the 'incident' happened. A glance at each other and a nod as they pass in school hallways, just as an acknowledgement of the others existence, that's all. Saya always thought they only did it to show the other spectators there were no harsh feelings between them. But right now she needed him, for something only he could do, that she didn't want to tell anyone else about, not even Haji, **especially** not Haji.

No one was around, which made it easier. It was the evening dinner rush and she excused herself from restaurant duties that day. Her hands slightly shook as her cell phone had its highlighter over Solomon's name on her contacts list. She knew he'd probably be happy to talk to her. Or maybe not. What if he never wanted to talk to her again? He did make the promise to be "waiting for the wings" if she ever changed her mind. But really, it's high school, a lot of people who think they're in love move on quick after break up, and a lot people say things that they never meant. This thought saddened Saya, though she wasn't sure why. When she left, she felt as though she wanted nothing to do with Solomon. Wait no, that's not right. She did want something to do with Solomon, but she made the decision not to have anything to do with him, because she knew what **she** wanted wouldn't come close to what **he** wanted. What she wanted... what he wanted... an imbalance, a gap that could never be bridged without one of their lives ruined. Saya sighed, and closed her phone, falling back across her bed and closed her eyes tight, rubbing her forehead in frustration. Maybe she was over reacting, maybe he already has another girlfriend, maybe he's completely over it and she could call and see him without any awkwardness. It seemed like a long shot but she took advantage of that small hope to reopen her phone and quickly press the call button over Solomon's number before she could over think it again.

Her heart raced in anxiety as the dial tone rang twice before Solomon picked up.

"Saya?" He asked, sounding genuinely surprised, but not at all upset, or angry.

"Hey Solomon, listen, I don't mean to sound rude, seeing how this is my first time speaking to you in a while, but I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor, as a friend."

There was no pause for Solomon's answer "Of course Princess."

Uggg! Princess. Saya grimaced at the use of Solomon's favorite affectionate nickname for her. Princess should be the name for someone spoiled, or bratty, more suiting for Diva. She wondered if that was Solomon's nickname for Diva, and he called his next girlfriend that out of habit. But Saya swallowed her irritation and spoke with gratitude. "Thank you so much! Can you pick me up tonight? I can't really talk about it here."

"Tonight?" Solomon paused, taken aback from the rush, but then spoke with enthusiasm "yeah sure, I'd love to. But isn't it a bit late? It's seven pm, and I'd like to hang out some"

Saya bit her lower lip looking at the clock. It was probably a better idea just to wait till the next day but that'd require another day off restaurant duties, plus this was something she wanted to get started on right away. While there was still a few more days of free time before school break ended. "Well… I could… spend the night… if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh really? Yeah Princess, that'd be no trouble at all!" He said with even more enthusiasm than Saya was comfortable with. She pulled the phone away from her mouth and sighed.

"So hey, you can't meet me at my house, could we meet up at the park a few blocks away in like, forty minutes?"

"Sure, sounds good, I can't wait to see you."

"Yeah… same. Bye." Saya closed her phone and proceeded to bang her head in her pillow a few times. But what's done is done, and she was sure she wanted to do it, so there was no turning back now. She sighed went to her closet. She knew Solomon wouldn't like the favor she had in mind to ask him, so she had to be as gracious as possible about it. To stay on his good side she decided to open up her large chest of clothes that was pushed in the back corner, hiding under some of her formal clothes hung on the hangers. In this overstuffed hidden case was all the clothes and accessories Solomon had gave her during their few weeks together. Stuff, that she actually did try to sell, but found out that the type of people who tend to buy those types of clothes only want them if they still have the tags attached. Something about authentication, to make sure her clothes were actually made by the designer and not someone that just managed to make the same exact thing for a hundred or so bucks cheaper. Saya thought it was stupid. It's clothes, if people think your clothes are pretty they'll be staring at the design not your tags. But alas, she was stuck of this chest of clothes, and decided to make use of them.

She pulled out a sapphire blue, long sleeved, velvet shirt with a black silhouette of a Chinese dragon on it, and matched it with a knee length pleated black skirt. She also grabbed pair of thick lined black winter boots to finish the look, and pulled out her black/electric blue hair extensions along with a small pack of makeup to stuff into her purse. She left the overstuffed chest on the floor, not bothering to try to squeeze it shut again, and grabbed her long jacket, buttoning it up so it would cover over her conspicuous outfit. Finally, she took one quick glance in the mirror before she left her room, and went downstairs to her family.

"I'm spending the night at Nathans.", She said leaning against the bar, looking at Gorge, "that's okay right?"

"Yeah, sure Saya, just don't get home too late tomorrow."

Saya paused for a moment, considering her ineptitude to lying she thought this was too easy. The kitchen is a small area close to the bar so everyone working could overhear her, and yet no one thought it was strange? Sure Nathan has been a close friend of Saya's for quite a while, but everyone who's ever came in contact with him understood that Nathan is someone best taken in small doses. Haji washed off his hands and went leaned over the other side of the bar to kiss Saya's cheek and take her hand, giving it a soft squeeze. It was obvious he had no plans of following her for once, because Haji himself probably understood **the most **that Nathan wasn't somebody worth being stuck with throughout the night.

"I'll miss you" he said in his deep whisper of a voice.

"I'll miss you too." She said, trying not to let the reality hit that this is the first time they'd actually be separated since they got together. She felt like she owed him some sort of explanation. Something like _"Well schools about to start soon, and my friends always get me on me about spending too much time with family, so I'm doing this to appease them." _But Haji wasn't looking for an explanation, and Saya knew the more she opened her mouth the more defensive she's going to look. So instead they shared one brief intimate glance in each other's eyes before Saya let go of Haji's hand and went outside.

The second Saya was away from the front windows of the restaurant she let out a deep sigh, and looked into the sky muttering to herself "I wonder how long till tonight is over." She gave herself a moment to unravel, slowly accepting that 1. She, by choice, separated herself from Haji for the night, and it's unfair to take the already gaping feeling of separation out on Solomon. And 2. Not only did she leave Haji by choice, but she also choose to lie to him about where she was going. The second part of this situation was much harder to swallow than the first. Guilt struck Saya like lightning mixing in with the separation, and she considered just walking back into the restaurant, and calling Solomon up to cancel this whole night before it began. But, this was something she wanted to do, almost needed to, and she reminded herself this would be hard. It took her a week to call Solomon in the first place so it was obvious that the rest of the night wouldn't come easy. With that, she wrapped herself back up again to working condition, and kept walking down the street, opening a compact mirror to put on her hair extensions and quickly put on some eye shadow and lip gloss before arriving at the parks parking lot.

She leaned against a lamp post and unbuttoned her long jacket, exposing the outfit. After all, the whole point of putting it on was to show Solomon she still kept the stuff he gifted her. She only waited there two minutes before the familiar red corvette pulled up, still ten minutes early from the time they planned, and a beaming happy Solomon got out of the car, and ran up to give Saya a hug.

Saya braced herself, expecting the feeling of Solomon's arms around her to be awkward, or even frightening, but instead she found herself completely relaxed in his embrace, she even felt a rush of... something. Relief maybe? Cause it turned out to be a lot less painful then she expected? No, it was more than that, it was joy. Saya genuinely missed Solomon, but she only just now realized it. Ever since Haji came into her life she never thought about anything except "their" life together, and "their" future. Solomon never fitted anywhere in "their" life, so he was forgotten. It's crazy how much has changed for her in the past six weeks, that any life she had before that seemed like a distant memory. Saya wrapped her arms back around Solomon and hugged just as tight, letting herself experience the rush of memory as it started to feel real once again.

"You look absolutely ravishing princess!" he exclaimed, when he finally let her go to take a good look at her.

Saya softly smiled "Why thanks, blue always was your favorite on me right?"

Solomon gave a nod of approval. "I'm surprised you remembered, or kept those clothes quite honestly. I would of expected them to be a rather fashionable chunk of landfill by now, or reincarnated into a pile of ashes out in a beach fire pit."

Saya smirked, "Nah, too expensive to go straight in the trash, actually, I tried to sell them, but I had no luck thanks to you removing all the designer tags."

"Well I did what I had to do. If I kept the tags on you'd locate the stores and return everything. It'd ruin the whole fun in spoiling you."

"Oh yes, tons of fun." Saya said in a sarcastic tone, Solomon just giggled in response and took her hand in his, leading her to the car and opening the door for her. She got in and he ran to the other side of the car to get behind the wheel, starting up his corvettes engine with a soft purr.

"So where we going? Did you need a ride anywhere? Or maybe a car! You know my offer to buy you one is still valid, especially now that I'm not around anymore to drive you places. I mean I give your current boy points of chivalry, but still, the whole riding on his shoulders thing wouldn't work very well for either of you long distance. Too bad it's too late to go to any dealerships, but we can order online tonight at least!"

Saya just laughed and shook her head "Solomon, be serious. And let's just head to your house."

Solomon nodded, and pulled out of the parking lot."But princess I'm being completely serious." He said with his confident smile. The kind of confidence he beams when he knows he's going to win no matter how much Saya complains about it. This frightened Saya, she never was good at talking Solomon out of things, but a purchase this big? Of course, in his eyes it's probably nothing at all. A new non luxury car would cost a fraction of even one of the pieces of jewelry he got her for the ball she was forced to go to. She knew arguing him out of it was a lost cause so she decided to change the subject before he could put anymore thought in it.

"I'm really sorry about the short notice for wanting to see you tonight. I hope I wasn't interrupting any plans you had with friends or a girlfriend or anything."

"Oh nonsense, I have very little connections with people outside of school, and I don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh? How come? I mean you're a good catch, and it seems like there's plenty of people interested in you."

Solomon's face changed, he was still smiling, but his eyes looked more distant, and his smile a little less grand, and more of the polite type of smile. It was his public mask, Saya could tell in an instant. "I guess… I haven't found the right type of person yet."

"Really? What type are you looking for?"

Solomon softly sighed and glanced away from Saya, staring blankly through the windshield. "Do you really want to know? It's not very fair to me Saya, this night was going so well so far."

"Solomon…" she spoke in a low annoyed tone.

"What! You asked! Even though you damn well know the answer. I want to find… someone like you." He sighed and then words started falling out of his mouth like a waterfall. "Forget someone like you. I want you. But I can't have you, and I accept that. I know I must not be acting like it at this moment but I really do. Just… hear me out for a moment, will you? I'm not asking you to dump him and take me back or anything. I know I don't deserve that, and I probably don't deserve forgiveness either, but I'd like it if you could see it in your ever so kind heart to give me that. That night I was the biggest idiot and jackass in the world, and every day I wish I could take it back. I just, I loved you so much, even though our time together was so little, and I craved to be closer so bad. To make love to you, to make you mine. I guess guys have a really messed up way of making their claim, because I already had you, and I could of kept you if I just kept my patience. And at the moment I just thought… hell I wasn't thinking at all was I? All the attention, all the ego went to my head, and I figured you'd want it as much as I did. Because, everyone else does right? Everyone wants me. But I forgot that's what made you different, that's what made me fall for you in the first place, that you weren't like everyone else. Every other girl that would throw themselves at me if I just gave them a smile, and yet, not know a thing about who I am. And I expected the girl who actually took the time to see me for me to throw herself at me just be like the others. The only girl who I actually wanted… I'm sorry Saya, I'm so so sorry. And like I said I'm not asking for another chance, but, if for whatever reason it doesn't work out between you and him… if you could ever give me that chance again, I swear to god I'll never make that mistake twice."

Saya looked at Solomon, his eyes glancing at her for brief moments while he was driving. His eyes were burning with sadness and guilt. He meant every word, that was evident. She was about to speak when she noticed what road they were driving down. Her road, with her families restaurant, and to top things off Haji was outside the entrance, shaking out place mats. She completely forgot to tell Solomon why she asked to meet in the park instead of in front of the restaurant, even though the point of not passing her house should have been obvious. Solomon probably wasn't paying attention to where he was going due to being wrapped in conversation.

"Solomon what are you doing!" she shouted.

"W-What do you mean?" he asked, still driving forward.

"We can't…" but it was too late, they were too close, Saya didn't even have any time to hide under the dashboard. As they passed by Saya tried her best to look straight ahead, hoping her identity would be shielded by her flashy top and hair extensions. But it was too easy for Haji to recognize Solomon and put two and two together. After they passed, Saya looked in the rear view mirror to see Haji staring back at the car, his usual almost godly composed face twisted in a painful complete shock.


	12. So what am I doing here?

"Solomon stop the car!" Saya shouted.

Solomon was driving slowly, but he kept his foot steady on the pedal, softly shaking his head. "Can't do that princess."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because the first time I've met up with that guy he kicked my ass, and the time after that he refused to let you go to speak to me. Our night has just started, and I've seen you with him. The second he gets his arms around you and tells me to go, you're gonna side with him."

"You're not being fair Solomon! Did you see his face?"

Solomon grimaced, almost empathetic of that splay of emotions over Haji's face, that was still fresh in both their minds, even though the car already turned the corner. "Yes… I did… but, he's just going to have to trust you."

"But Solomon I didn't tell him that I was going to be with you. I lied! Why would he trust me if I lied?"

Solomon sighed, and turned his head to look at Saya. "Let me ask you something Saya. Whatever it is you planned to do with me tonight, would it be something that could be considered cheating? Did you call me because you wanted to get back together? Or kiss me? Did you want to see me because you're in love with me?"

Saya looked down and minutely shook her head no.

Solomon softly chuckled "Don't worry, I wasn't expecting a yes. My point is you do deserve trust because you're not doing anything wrong. People freak about their partners visiting their ex's because there's always the assumption that they're re-kindling the old flame. But you're doing nothing of the sort dear. Besides, who knows if there's trust in your relationship without testing it? It's easy for the two of you to say you trust each other when you spend almost every waking minute together. It's not like either of you can do anything behind each others back when you're with him all the time. But it's times away, in suspicious situations like this, that tests partners' faith in each other. Honestly, how would you feel if Hagi has so little faith in your love in him, and the relationship that you have together, that'd he assume the worse just because you're merely in the same car as me?"

Saya sighed, her mind piecing the situation together while Solomon made his speech. "I get what you're saying, but I feel like I should call him, and explain."

"And what explanation would you give to him Saya? You know I pay more attention than you think. I knew the second you called to ask a favor, it wasn't a favor for you. I know you, you're the type of girl that'd rather drown than ask me for a boat. Whatever favor it is you want, it's for his sake, and it's something you don't want to tell him. If you call now he'll tell you to come home, or at the very least, ask to come with us. You'll be cut off before you could get the ball rolling."

Saya sighed, and looked straight ahead through the windshield. Her voice was laced with frustration and venom, not exactly directed at Solomon, but the situation in general. "So why'd you agree to help me if you knew it was for him?"

"Because he makes you happy, if I do him a favor, it's the same as helping you."

Saya turned her head to look at the side of Solomon's face, her venom slowly soothing out into soft smile in almost awe of Solomon's kindness.

While Saya was just starting to calm down, Haji's panic was just starting. The shock overtook him so much the place mat he was beating outside slipped out of his hands. He quickly picked it back up, and furiously re-beat the dust out of it before re-entering the restaurant. His face couldn't begin to recompose itself, so when the rest of the family looked over to Haji they thought the boy felt sick.

"Something wrong Haji?" Gorge asked, leaning over the bar.

"No! err… yeah. I think I need… I need…"

"_Saya, Saya, Saya, Saya! I need to follow Saya! I have to go with her. I have to make sure she's safe. I have to be with her. What's she doing? Is she happy? Why'd she leave? Why would she lie? Why did she need to get away from me? To get away… from __**me.**__" _ Haji's mind went blank for a moment, as a large wave of self loathing crashed onto him, and filled him to the very core. _"She's angry at me. I did something wrong. I failed her. I can't follow her… I can't follow her. I must not follow her. Because she left, and didn't tell me where she was really going, because she didn't want to be followed. She's angry at me. She's angry at me. And I need to figure out why."_

Gorge watched Haji's previously panicked face twist to sorrow, and then show a hint of frantic energy, till Haji finally regained the ability to speak again. "I'm sorry. I know it's inconvenient with Saya taking the day off, but may I please be excused for the rest of the evening? There's some very important research I need to do."

Gorge slowly nodded and reached over to softly grasp Haji's wrist. "It's fine Haji, just take care of yourself, and stay safe okay?"

Haji nodded, and politely broke Gorges grasp, grabbing his wallet and rushing out the doors. He came back ten minutes later with four different newspapers, and went straight upstairs to his room. He spread the help wanted sections of each newspaper flat against the floor, sitting in the middle of the pile with a highlighter and phone in hand. _"I'll be sure to be able to offer her anything Solomon can. Cars, fancy clothes, whatever. I may not have inherited any money, but I can make it! I'll take up a second job, a third if I need to. I'll quit school, I don't care. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll be able to give her everything she ever wanted. Whatever she desires, she'll get. I should get a job no issue. I work hard, I got previous experience, better than most candidates my age already. Whatever she wants… whatever she wants." _Haji furiously circled ads, prepared small speeches to try and get himself an interview, and left messages on machines. Most offices are closed at this time of night so he couldn't do much else at the moment. After the fifth call he made there was a small tap on the door and Riku peeked in.

"Haji, we're about to clean up the restaurant, would you like anything else to eat tonight?" He asked, looking straight in Haji's eyes, as Haji simply sat there in his chicken coop of newspapers. Haji's eyes were less crazed, but he was still as edgy as before.

"Oh no, I'm good, thanks Riku." He said about as politely as possible.

Riku nodded but didn't move from his spot. "Hey Haji… what's wrong anyway?"

"Oh nothing, I just feel like I should consider a second job. It's a little unfair that Saya has given me a place to stay, and a family that's willing to provide me such good food and clothes, and yet I haven't given her all that much in return."

Riku tilted his head, and then his voice lowered in understanding. "Saya's not **really **with Nathan, is she?"

Haji nodded. He should of figured Riku was onto the whole situation. Maybe it's just Haji's silent stance and power of observation, but he figured no one else really notices how bright Riku really is. He's got a grasp on social situations that's much more advanced than most people his age. In fact Riku was much more mature than most people Haji and Saya's age. "Yeah… she's not with Nathan."

"Don't worry, I won't tell the others. Saya wouldn't ever do something that'd get her in trouble. You shouldn't worry either though Haji."

"Oh, I know Saya won't get in trouble." _"Or… at least I hope."_

"Oh no, I don't mean that. I mean I don't think she'd do anything to get in trouble with you. You shouldn't worry if you're good enough. Because you are. If you ever pay attention to her expression when she looks at you, you know you are. Did you guys get in a fight recently?"

"No, we've never fought actually."

"Then I wouldn't worry about it. I know Saya. If something's really irritating her, she'd let you know. After all, look how she treated Solomon."

"I wasn't around when Saya was dating Solomon."

"Yes, you were."

Haji raised his eyebrows suspiciously and Riku just winked. It seems even Haji underestimated Riku's power of observation. The kid has been watching him, while he's been watching Saya. "Come on Haji, I really think you could use some food." Riku said offering his hand.

"Haji finally dropped his phone and highlighter, and took Riku's hand. They went downstairs to have some ice cream. And with Haji's mind, -mostly—cleared, he was able to stay and help clean up afterwards. Though his mind was still chewing at him about the possibility that Saya was having issue with his libido. _"Maybe I shouldn't of been so cautious around her. Maybe I should of reacted more on my attraction on her. Why did I interrupt her with all my worries when she tried to make a move on me? I should of accepted that she was ready. Her body was SCREAMING readiness. Stupid Haji, stupid, stupid, stupid! Well if that's what's bothering her I could fix that. I could never keep my hands off her again."_

His mind would go through near a million more scenario's, and near a million more self curses throughout the sleepless night. Without Saya's room to escape to, without her arms to hold him to keep him calm throughout the night.

Saya's night wasn't so strenuous despite her initial guilt. Solomon just being Solomon was attention consuming enough, let alone the people, and the surprises waiting for her when she entered the Goldsmith mansion.

"Welcome back Ms. Otonashi" A woman answered as she opened the door, before Solomon approached it. She was a servant, Saya presumed, but her work dress was so lavished and elegant. It looked more formal than the clothes 'normal' people wear going out. Her tone was too pleasant, she was too inhuman. Surely everyone in the Goldsmith mansion knew that Saya was the one to break the dear prince's heart. Only to show up again on short notice and she's greeted with smiles, and polite tones again, like nothing at all happened. This kinda irked Saya till her mind wandered to the fact that every time she entered the mansion there was someone to greet her, and there was someone to there to wish her a pleasant evening every time she left. She wondered if there were any designated hours, or if, by hypothetical chance, that if she walked up to the front door of the Goldsmith mansion at two in the morning, there would still be someone to open the door and pleasantly greet her before she would have a chance to knock.

"I wonder how much a third shift door greeter makes." She wondered out loud in a soft voice only audible to Solomon, as he guided her through the hallway to his room.

Solomon softly chuckled, "I couldn't tell you off the top of my head, but if you're interested in a position, I can see what I can do for you."

Saya shook her head and laughed a little too. "A job here? No thank you. Knowing you I could probably sleep on a couch and you'd still pay me twice the salary of anyone else."

Solomon smiled "True… what a pity. All those stray cats, dogs, and homeless people that won't be greeted properly. Oh hey, I wanna show you something." He said as he lead her to an entrance two doors down and across the hallway from his bedroom. There was a sturdy maple door, and made out of ornate twigs was the name "Saya" hard glued into the door. Solomon pulled out a key from his pocket and softly placed it in Saya's hand.

Saya looked at him in a puzzled expression, and stuck the key in the black iron knob, slowly unlocking it, almost scared to see what waits on the other side. She had a right to be scared, because on the other side was the most lavished bedroom that she'd only use once. The walls were painted with detailed tree's with rays of sun escaping through the branches. There was a huge round canopy bed with brown sheets and pillows and sheer forest green drapes surrounding it thick like a tent. There were two full sized dressers, no doubt completely stuffed with changes of clothes. She hoped, at least that Solomon himself didn't pick out her spare undergarments stocked in there. On a table there was a TV, hooked up with a cable box, and a high sound quality radio.

"You love nature colors don't you?" Solomon's smile undeterred by Saya's shock, as usual.

Saya just silently nodded while mentally grasping for words. "Solomon… why… why… why do I have this?!"

"Well I had it built when we were together, because if we lasted past high school you'd want a place to stay away from your family…"

"_If it took only a few weeks to build, then you should be able to have it disabled in a month and a half. Or at least take my name off it and turn it into a guest room." _Saya thought.

"I know you're probably wondering why it's still here. Trust me we have plenty of spare unused rooms if someone comes up with a creative idea of a room we don't already have yet, or a room we actually have and forgot about, letting it collect dust on the end of some hallway or in a spare bungalow…" He softly chuckled, but then sighed. "To be honest, I just couldn't take it down… I know you must find that silly, or maybe even scary, but hey now you have a place of your own here every time you visit."

"But Solomon…"

"I know, you don't plan to visit often, or maybe not at all after tonight. But, consider it? The crew here loves you, and you don't even have to come to see me, bring Haji if you like. Spend a few nights every now and then in the world's most luxurious hotel where everything is free."

Saya decided to derail from the main point Solomon was trying to make. "How can you tell if your crew loves anyone? Don't they have the same polite robotic tone if they were greeting the devil himself?"

Solomon softly chuckled "Good one, hey why don't I get us some tea to drink? Just stay here." Solomon guided her to sit on her bed and then flitted out the door.

Saya just sighed and laid back, staring at the green sheer drapes trying to grasp a feeling of normal. Even without Solomon's high happy energy buzzing into her space, she still couldn't help but feel strained and alien in this high class room that supposedly belonged to her. "A place to vacation huh? I wonder what kind of vacations Haji would enjoy?" She wondered to herself. Of course she wasn't seriously considering this place. There's no way in hell Haji would set foot in the house, and even if by some reasoning he did (probably to bust Saya out) he'd never be anywhere near comfortable in here. _"Haji busting me out… oh god what if he tries that? He knows where I am now… and I wouldn't put it past him. Or he'd at least try to follow me. WHAT IF SECURITY CATCHES HIM? Will they call the cops. Well surely he'd mention he came to find me… I'm sure they'll just call me to go talk to him and explain the situation. I hope." _

Saya heard someone walking thru the hallway, so she sat up, looking at the small open crack of her door. On the other side of the door she could immediately notice a blue set of eyes with a stare as cold as ice looking straight at her, punching an emotional hole in her stomach.

"What you doing in the place like this?" Diva's bewitching menacing shrill voice cut into Saya's ears. "You know Solomon may be happy go lucky tonight but don't think you're the charming queen again just because you're still allowed in the palace."

Saya rolled her eyes and sarcastically smirked. "Oh don't worry Diva, you'll always been the queen. I don't really have the high and pompous attitude required. As long as you remember that you're better than everyone else, I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Diva laughed. She was sincerely humored with the comment but even her laughs had a way of sounding sinister. "But seriously, dear Saya, I'm getting rather tired of my cousin moping around about the stupid girl that got away. I don't really care if you get back together with him or leave forever, just do me a favor, and make up your mind. Your kind has nothing to do with my family, but it's even worse when you dare string a boy like Solomon around your finger."

Saya sighed, it seemed tonight she couldn't do anything without hurting one person or another. Sure, Solomon might be all cheers and laughter right now. But she knew that she was hurting him. Would he suffer missing her all over when she leaves tonight? She could ask Solomon, but she knew he would deny it. Anything to make her feel welcome to come again. "Look Diva, I have no intention to be stringing anyone along."

"Then I'll ask again. What, pray tell, are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business Diva." Solomon's rarely used stern voice came through the hallway as he approached his cousin.

Diva seemed undeterred from Solomon's expression. "Ah dearest cousin, I see you brought me something to drink." She said picking one of the two glasses off the tray he was carrying.

Solomon slipped into Saya's room for a moment to put the tray down and then turned to the hall to softly bap at Diva's hand and take the drink away. "If you want one go ask someone else to get you one. At your own home."

"But Solomon…" she softly whined.

"Go. Now."

Diva harrumphed, and quickly strode away. Solomon deeply sighed, and hung his head before turning back into Saya's room and walking over to sit beside her on the bed, handing her the iced tea in his hand. "My dearest apologies Princess. You called in such short notice, and my aunt and 'dear cousin' were having dinner with us. I honestly expected they'd be gone by the time I came back with you."

Saya shook her head "Nah, it's fine, sisters will be sisters after all." She said somewhat sarcastically.

Solomon's eyes widened for a moment, but then he just chuckled. "So you figured it out eh? I guess with the resemblance it'd make you wonder."

Saya smiled sheepishly, not wanting to admit that what should have been obvious, was a rather recent discovery for her. "Actually that brings me to my favor. I was wondering if you could tell me about the past."

Solomon's face switched back to slightly worried, and the usually polite tone of his voice became edgy. "Your past?"

"No, not mine. I mean, that's not what I came here for, but now that you mention it…"

"No. I can't tell you."

"What?" Saya's face looked puzzled. She wasn't very conceited, but it seemed very strange for Solomon to say no to her. About anything. "Look, fine, it doesn't matter. I didn't come here for that, but I wanted to know about Haji. If you could find anything about him. Maybe, if it's not so much trouble, find out where his relatives are now."

Solomon bit his lower lip as he considered the risks of speaking any further. He looked at Saya and deeply sighed. "He seems perfectly happy being with you now, I doubt he cares whether he see's his family or not." He said, trying to avoid the subject of information.

"Look Solomon if you don't want to do me the favor, fine. But could you imagine what it'd be like to be dropped off at a doorstep and trying to make it on your own for most the life? I had it lucky, I got a real family that loves me, and I don't need anything past that. But I'm sure he's still left with a million questions about his parents, and why'd they do something so cruel, if they miss him, if they're ever sorry for what they did! He has the right to ask them!"

Solomon deeply sighed and hung his head. "You're right, I'm just worried what it would do to you."

"To me?" Saya asked, puzzled again.

"Yeah, you see, I already have information on Haji, cept, I wasn't really looking for it. I was looking for information on Diva's past, which is how I learned yours, and some of his."

"Wait, what does Haji have to do with my past?"

"He's connected to you Saya, but I can't explain how. You have to remember on your own. Even then I'm not sure if it'll be healthy for you. But I'll get some people to research on where Haji's folks are now. In the meantime if you want answers, you'll have to go to the zoo."

"The zoo? What good will going to the zoo be?"

Solomon shook his head "I'm not talking about the place with all the animals. The zoo used to be an estate to a very wealthy man. I'll write down the address and give you enough for bus fair there and back. Take Haji with you, he'll fill in the blanks."

* * *

**There. Now ya'll don't have to kill Saya, see, she was trying to help! Poor Haji though, his mind running him ragged when he didn't do anything wrong. But that's the life of the perfect romantic eh, always thinking how they can be better for their mate. R&R thank you.**


	13. The Zoo

Despite Solomon's pleas to spend more time together, Saya managed to get him to drop her off back home around 8 o'clock the next morning. She requested to be dropped off a block away from the restaurant because even though Haji now knew where she was, she still didn't want her family to notice the blatantly obvious red corvette, which most definitely did not belong to Nathan. Gorge was already at the bar counter as she came inside. Saya softly smiled at her father and asked where Haji was.

"Still in his room last I checked. Probably good that you should check on him. All last night he looked like he had something heavy on his mind. Could be wrong though, I mean you two seem inseparable, maybe he just had some adjustment issues after you're gone for more than ten minutes." He softly chuckled.

She nodded, and thanked him for the previous night off, before she scurried upstairs. Though, by the time she got to the hallway, she wished she moved slower. What was she going to say to him after all? How was she going to explain this? Is there any worthwhile explanation for this? Sure, she has the free right to see Solomon, but lying to do so, even with good intentions, isn't something she deserves to be forgiven for. With this on her mind, she was walking in slow motion, pausing momentarily between each step till she stood at the end of the hallway at his door. She stared at the door, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and let out a deep sigh. She considered just going to her room to get some more rest, but she knew there was going to be a nervous jolt in her chest until she faced him. So rest, or any sort of calm, was out of the question. Finally she lifted her hand and softly knocked on his door twice. She heard a rustle of blankets and a mumbled 'Yes?'

"Haji, it's me, Saya." She softly spoke through the door.

"Come in" he replied calmly, but immediately.

She sighed again, and opened the door. He was still laying in bed, his body turned to look at the doorway to see her. He looked very unlike himself. In fact, he looked very dead. His wavy hair was a mangled mess in all directions, due to him tossing and turning all night. His face was drawn with lines of worry. His blue grey eyes had dulled from the usual flame that ignited them, and right under those usually precious eyes were dark purple bags, and deep cuts of the eyelids, due to the combination of stress and sleeplessness.

Though, the image he was staring back at, didn't seem to look much better. Saya also didn't get any rest. She could never get comfortable in 'her own room' at Solomon's place, and she spent most the night staring at the forest painted walls in the moonlight, with her mind going a thousand miles a minute about the mystery of everyone's past. So not only were her eyes baggy, but her pose was ridged, with her arms twisted behind her back and her face staring at the floor. They were both stressed, and tired, which gave them both a strong possibility of snapping. It was probably a better idea for them to face each other after a long nap, but sleep was an impossibility until after they faced each other.

"So are we still together?" Haji asked after a moment of silence. He tried to make his voice calm but Saya could hear the edge of actual fear in it. Her face snapped back up to look at him.

"Of course we are." She said with the first bit of enthusiasm she's had all day, but then she paused. "Unless, you don't… want to be."

Haji immediately shook his head. "No, no, no, I want to be with you. I always will. I just thought you went to see him because…"

"Oh god Haji! You thought I wanted to date him again!?" Saya closed the door and knelt down next to his bed, her face close to his, though she was still afraid to reach for him. If he was upset with her, he probably wouldn't want to be touched. "Haji I love you with my entire being. I would never leave you, especially not like that. I'm sorry for what I did, I truly am. I had reasons for seeing him but I shouldn't have lied. I was just afraid if I told you I was going to speak to him you would of thought something, well, like this. I didn't want to worry you. But that's no excuse; I only worried you more in the end. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Shhh Saya, it's okay" Haji whispered as he ran his hand gently through her hair, and soft smiles finally broke the stress lines that were on both their faces. He shifted his body away from the edge of the bed to give Saya room, and then took her arm, pulling her up into his arms before pulling the covers back over the two of them. Saya rested her face into his bare chest and they both closed their tired eyes for a moment, enjoying the peace after their mutual long night of worry. Though, before they drifted off, he still had to ask "Did I do anything wrong my love?"

"What? No, why would you ask that?"

Haji hesitated "well I'd never believe you would hang out with Solomon to punish me. You're much more respectful and kind to do that. But I would understand if you told me that there where… flaws of mine, that he doesn't have. Saya, you deserve the best, and I believe that, over all else. And I know there's a lot I can't give you. Like a car, or parties to go to, or places to travel to, or a house we can live in on our own. I mean, I'm going to work my hardest to get all that, I promise, but I could never live up to that sort of lifestyle. And I'm not publicly charming like Solomon, or that energetic, and I didn't act on my physical attraction to you enough, and I hurt you. He wouldn't of done that to you."

"You're right on that part, Solomon sure was eager to act on his attraction to me."

Haji scowled for a moment as his muscles tightened, bringing back bitter memories. Saya lifted her head to look at him in the eyes, reaching to run her fingers through his mangled hair, untangling the strands gently as possible as she spoke. "You know, no one is perfect for everyone Haji. On paper Solomon seems like a perfect catch. Rich, affectionate, handsome, confident, attentive, and to top it all off, he loves to spoil some lucky girl rotten. He could be any and every girls dream. But you see, someone who seems perfect for everyone, doesn't have that unique connection to be truly perfect for anyone. Cause true love lies in finding only that single person that can connect with you in a deeper level than anyone else. A loved one is someone irreplaceable, only for the fact that they are who they are. You see Haji, you may not be rich, or energetic, and we may not be able to live a life where we can travel the world on a moment's notice. But if I looked hard enough, I could probably find many wealthy handsome gentlemen who probably enjoy decorating their wife like their favorite trophy, but there's only one you, and I adore every single beautiful detail about you, inside and out."

Haji deeply smiled and pressed his forehead against Saya's, looking into her eyes. She was glad to see that even as tired as they both were his eyes managed to have that passionate shine to them again. He kissed her lips sweetly and then rested his head back against the pillow, though some questions still persisted in his mind. "Are you going to see him again? Not that it's really any of my business. I would just like to know."

Saya bit her lower lip and tensed for a moment. "Maybe, we're kind of working on something together."

"Oh, what would that be?"

"Remember on Christmas when we discussed my blood connection with Diva?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I wanted to get more information on my past. With her, and our parents, considering since Solomon is her cousin and all, plus he seems to love to collect information, I thought he could help me out."

"Oh? Did you get any information?"

"Sort of, I have a lead. A place I should visit, will you come with me tomorrow?"

"Of course Saya." He softly smiled and ruffled her hair and it went silent for a moment. "Hey Saya?"

"Yeah Haji?"

"I'm sorry for thinking you could of left me. I should trust you more than that. You're allowed to speak with and hang out with whoever you want. I need you to know that. Just, if it's not too much to ask, warn me ahead of time?"

"Of course Haji, and I'm sorry for worrying you. You had every right to have suspicions after I did something so low. You have every right to be angry at me now really."

"I'm too happy to be angry."

"That's because you're a saint."

Haji softly chuckled and kissed the top of Saya's head. "Let's get some rest my dear."

She nodded and comfortably rested the side of her face against his upper chest, and they fell asleep in each others arms. They both slept in till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. No one disturbed them, not even Kai, out of respect that they both looked like sick zombies that morning. After they woke they rushed out of Haji's room to get ready for what was left of the day. They both volunteered to work till close to make up for missed hours. Gorge honestly didn't care, he was just glad to see the two of them well again, though, he was getting a tad bit concerned that this incident was all caused due to co-dependency issues between the two of them.

"Oh Haji, I forgot to mention something to you" Gorge said to him as they were cleaning to close shop. "Got some calls for a few companies saying you called them earlier looking for a job. I told them they must be mistaken since you're quite busy already helping out a family business."

Saya could hear them from behind the bar, and stopped cleaning dishes. She moved to lean forward against the bar and look to Haji. "Is that true? Why on earth would you want another job?"

Haji's eyes turned away from her deciding to look at Gorge. He didn't want Saya to know how far he went with his paranoia that Saya might be looking for a guy with better financial assets. "Well it's not a mistake, I did call them. I just thought you were so nice to take me in on less than a moment's notice, and treat me like family, so I should pay you back for the trouble."

"I won't allow it." Gorge said sternly.

"What?" Haji asked. His tone and his face genuinely surprised. With the exception of the things Kai does outside of the house, all his kids were extremely well behaved, so it was rare that Gorge ever had to put his foot down about anything. "May I ask why not?"

"Look Haji, you're with Saya, so I'm not exactly going to say you're a brother in the family. But considering all my children are adopted, and you don't have any known parents of your own, I am not afraid to treat you like another kid under my care. You are part of my family now, and as part of my family you are not allowed to stretch your schedule to the point where your school work suffers. You will not drop out either. You are still a kid to me and I will take care of you, so if there's anything you need a little extra cash to get, you can let me know."

Haji softly chuckled and smiled wide, patting Gorge on the shoulder. "That won't be necessary for time being. As I said, I considered other work to help the rest of you out. Taking more money from you seems to defeat the purpose, don't you think?" He then crossed the room to the bar to gently place his hand on Saya's and he softly whispered "So this is what family feels like huh?"

She smiled and nodded, softly speaking back "it has its upsides and downsides, I've noticed."

Haji softly chuckled "I can probably handle a protective parent better than I can being hungry or trying to stay warm in the winter. Though, this whole limitation thing and being told 'no' to, will take some getting used to"

"Oh? Chieko never denied you anything for your own good?"

Haji shook his head "I always talked or charmed my way out of it, and for those rare moments that didn't work I'd be a brat and pull the 'you can't tell me what to do, you're not my real mother' card. I feel bad for that, I could see in her face that it just broke her heart."

Saya nodded, and they went back to cleaning. Afterwards they went back upstairs into Haji's room and Saya told him all the details about her visit with Solomon, running into Diva, and her overly grandiose room that was still there waiting for her. She shared every detail except the fact that he was gonna be the key in learning their past tomorrow.

They both then got ready for bed, and slept in his room till the early morning. Saya set the alarm to six am so they could be out the door before the restaurant opens and hopefully be back in two hours. They dressed up in their coats and took buses out of the city and far into country, till they reached rich neighborhoods with the houses all spread apart by miles, and the estates a half mile back from their gates. They walked a few miles till finally Saya found the estate with the address Solomon wrote down. "So this is the zoo." She said in wonder, with one arm wrapped around Haji's she used her free hand to push open the iron black gate, it was heavy, but it creaked open. It had no locks, no one had stepped foot in this territory for years. Haji's body seemed to stiffen next to Saya. "Is there something wrong?"

"I thought we were going to learn about your past. Not mine."

"So you're familiar with this place?"

Haji nodded. "My time was brief here, but it held great significance."

"Tell me about it!" Saya urged while pulling him forward down a cobblestone walkway. It was surrounded by acres of grass and forest on each side. In the center crossroads of the walkway laid a grand stone fountain, it was still filled with stagnant water for the most part, but it seemed the fountain hadn't been functioning for a while. Haji stayed silent till they sat at the edge of the fountain and he pointed to the manor in front of him. There wasn't much left of said manor, mostly a few feet of brick scorched black.

"There lived a man by the name of Joel Goldschmidt. He was a very rich and eccentric scientist. That's why this place was called the zoo. He'd collect every species he could get his hands on and keep them here. I guess you could say he 'collected' me too. He bought me from my parents, gave them enough money to pay off gambling debts and buy an RV out of town. Kind of sad don't you think?" He looked at Saya, and she just nodded. "Anyway Joel didn't have any scientific use for me, he just wanted a playmate for his daughter. I heard her mom died during childbirth, and Joel never took her out of the manor to be with people. So when I first met her here." Haji paused for a moment as a light seemed to brighten in his eyes. As he was imagining the image of the girl he met all the pieces of the puzzle fit. He softly chuckled. "So THAT'S why we're here. I guess we're discovering your past after all." He softly ruffled Saya's hair.

Saya blinked and looked at him dumbfounded. "Haji… I don't remember anything before I met Gorge and Kai, you're going to have to tell me."

Haji nodded "well you were Joel's daughter, my new playmate. And when I first met you, I'm sorry to say, but you were quite a brat. Though, that's probably because no one ever taught you how to be around peers. You were a selfish little thing, wanted me to do all your chores for you, and help you dress in the morning. You also told me I seemed, boring, and I needed to find a hobby like playing a cello. You liked to sing back then, something about how you wished you sounded as pretty as the girl in the tower. I honestly thought she was an imaginary friend of yours, but after a few weeks, suddenly at night I started to hear signing too, from somewhere in the grounds. Anyway, honestly the first few months I disliked you. Till one day you were getting frustrated with my uncooperative attitude and told me why don't I just go home! And I responded 'because I don't have a home to go back to!' that seemed to immediately soften you. You were a lot friendlier, kinder, and more considerate. It made me want to learn the cello just to make you happy." Haji paused again to look at the crumbles of the manor and softly sighed. "I would have been happy being your companion forever, but instead, that happened." He said, pointing to the scorched rock.

"How did it happen?" Saya sadly asked. She was less concerned with the burned home, but more upset that she missed out on being able to be with Haji all these years.

"I'm not really sure honestly. I been living with you and Joel for close to eight months when you told me it was his birthday and you wanted to do something special for him. You wouldn't tell me what you were going to do, just that it was going to be a surprise, and then you ran off. By the time I found you, you were sneaking out of the tower that voice came from. Then you asked me if I wanted to pick flowers with you so Joel can have another gift besides the surprise. Well, ten minutes after we started picking flowers in the yard I first saw the smoke." Haji shook his head "we were far out from the house so by the time I noticed it was already large enough to be eating away at the whole house. By the time we ran back, it was completely covered in flame, and I could hear a little girls voice cackling. I think, that may have been Diva."

"But why would Diva do such a thing?"

Haji shrugged "Why did I never see her till that moment? I have a feeling she wasn't treated as nicely as you were Saya. But still, when I think about it, her own house, Joel, most the house workers, they were all trapped. I don't know what would drive a girl that age to do so much evil… Anyway it was only a matter of a time before someone else would notice the smoke, police/fire department would be called, and we'd all be taken away. You told me to take advantage of the moment, and make a run for it. Go back home, find my parents. Joel was gone anyway so he couldn't claim me even though he bought me. I should of stayed by your side, but you just screamed at me to go, while I still had a chance, before I'd be taken away forever and completely forget my way back home. So I ran, and ran, and ran, and got lost. And that's when I met Chieko. I told her my old address and the next day she took me there herself, but my house was empty, real estate sign on the lawn, parents long gone. She honestly wanted to send me to social services herself but I begged and cried that they might take me to live somewhere far away, and I want to be close by enough to keep checking to see if my parents would come back. The expression on her face looked like she knew they're not commin back, but even back when she first knew me she had a problem saying no to me. The rest you know."

Saya looked at the charred base of the house in wonder "a fire, how can I not remember that? Why can't I remember this place at all? It seems as some questions get answered it's leaving me wondering about more." She shook her head and stood up, taking Haji's arm again and walked back to the bus stop.

As soon as they got back Saya excused herself into her room for a few minutes. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Solomon's number, he didn't pick up. "Hello, Solomon. Look, I know you said it wouldn't be healthy for me, but I don't care. I want to know the full story about the fire. And more importantly, YOU WILL TELL ME WHY I DON'T REMEMBER."


	14. It's All In The Book

Chapter 14. It's all in the book

"Hey, did you hear about Saya? That girl Solomon dumped a few months back? I heard she's been following him around like a stalker trying to get him to talk to her about something."

"I bet she wants to get back together with him. Tried someone else and it didn't work out, so now she's trying to get back into the Princes good graces. He might let her back in too. He hasn't really found anyone else since they separated."

"What a lucky bitch. And can you believe her nerve? She still lives with that guy too. If she wants to get with Solomon she shouldn't be living with her ex boyfriend. That's like cheating."

"I feel pretty sorry for the guy too. He still spends time with her like she's the only person that matters. Maybe he doesn't know what's going on. What's his name anyway?"

"I don't know, but he sure is handsome."

"Maybe one of us should ask him out. Give him someone who treats him better."

"Yeah, after we figure out what his name is."

The three female classmates giggled, and continued down the hall moving onto other subjects. Conversations like this were popping up all around school. Of course by now what's being said is much more speculation than it is fact. The truth being, Saya was following Solomon around. He had refused to answer her phone calls, and told the doormen to send her away if she shows up at the mansion. So she figured this was her best avenue of attack. Go to the one place where he simply can't ignore her, out in the public, where everyone was watching. But even with his reputation on the line Solomon has so far lasted two days of Saya's ambushes, simply telling her that he has nothing to speak about and to please leave him alone. It worked for him too, now Saya looked to be the obsessive fool, and poor Solomon had to deal with her. Diva quite enjoyed the now strained relationship between the two. She started using herself and James as a roadblock whenever they spotted Saya trying to catch up with Solomon.

"Just give up Saya, I don't know what you did, but good job. You're no longer his princess anymore. Give up and go home, I told you before you never belonged here." Diva cackled.

But Saya didn't give up, she refused she got answers, and with Haji's acceptance of her actions there was nothing that was going to slow her down. By the end of day three of her pestering Saya simply went out to the parking lot, and leaned against the door of Solomons red corvette. As students passed by they gave her snares, and whispered to each other, but she could care less. Haji stood in the shadow of the schools entrance, ready to step in if anyone tried to give her a hard time. Solomon saw Saya out the schools windows facing the parking lot, and decided to stand back inside till most the students had emptied the parking lot and drove away. He then opened the doors and noticed Haji leaning against the buildings wall, in the shadow of a pillar. He didn't look at Haji, but rather he looked straight ahead at Saya and muttered "Have you no control over her?"

Haji shook his head and proudly said, "Not that kind of relationship. She is mine to love, not to control."

Solomon softly chuckled "Every relationship is that kind of relationship. She probably just controls you."

Haji shrugged, "and so it is"

"And so it shall always be." Solomon added, and then started to stride towards his car, the intensity of his eyes on Saya's growing as he moves closer till he stood right next to her, leaning against the trunk as she was blocking the driver's side door. "I always knew you were a stubborn one. I used to find it cute. Never realized how much it would come back to bite me in the ass if you used it against me."

Saya rolled her eyes. "You're calling me stubborn? You're the one hiding the truth from me just because you think it's for my own good. What are you, my father?"

Solomon sighed, and mashed his brows together. "Look, I have some information that you want, you ask me for it, and I say no. Which I have the right to do because the information is in my possession and not yours. And what do you do? You blast my phone, you show up my house, you follow me around school screaming down the hallways about how I can't hide the truth forever. If I didn't care for you so much I'd have you arrested by now."

"YOU'RE POSSESSION!? IT'S MY PAST, YOU DON'T OWN SOMEBODY ELSE'S MEMORIES."

"You're right, but I didn't take your memories. You happened to lose them and I happen to know why. And I keep trying to tell you there's a good reason for you not to remember."

"Why? So I don't hate Diva more than I already do? So I don't look at her and shudder knowing she set our house on fire and murdered our father?"

"Hey! What happen with Diva was…" Solomon started saying defensively. "Oh what am I kidding, I should of known the second I gave you that address it'd lead to this. I was just hoping you'd stay focused on your original plan of discovering your guard dogs past. Look, you want the truth? Fine, this Saturday around 6 pm show up at the basketball courts, and wear that sports outfit I got you. I know you still have it around somewhere. For now, could you just get off my car?"

Saya nodded, and got strait on her feet. "Thanks Solomon." She said before she turned to walk back towards Haji.

"Don't thank me. It's not like you gave me much of a choice." He said darkly and got in his car, before driving away.

Saya managed to stay patient, and out of Solomon's way for the rest of the week. The schools majority was thrown off by the sudden cease fire, and rumor soon changed that maybe Saya indeed just wanted Solomon to stop hiding something. Of course then speculation moved to what on earth Solomon was hiding. Murmurs filled the halls with a wide range of possible disasters from Solomon possibly cheated on Saya when they were together, to the idea that he was dodging a paternity test. One teacher of the school noted that if the student body was half as interested in academics, as they were interested of the goings on of the schools royal couple, everyone's GPA would probably raise at least one point. Saya was simply relieved that talk had mostly transferred back over to what Solomon was hiding, rather than why she was asking. She was able to sink under the radar once more, and Haji was especially relieved because all the flirtatious looks and sudden attention he got from the female population of the school was too overwhelming for him to calmly handle.

"You won't believe how many girls came up to me wide eyed with a smile on their face asking if I could give them private cello lessons Saya. If I charged each of them I'd be running my own business." He said on the way home from school on Saya's last day of pestering Solomon.

"Oh yeah? Maybe you should tell them you've been booked so much that you can only do group lessons. Watch how their faces turn as they're deciding whether they're okay sharing you with others or try to be blunt about it, and tell you they really didn't care that much about the Cello part." She laughed.

Saturday finally blew around, and for the first time Saya started to process that she was finally going to learn about the parts of her life she never knew, and also what sort of effects it could have on her by knowing it. Her stomach was in knots, and her mind was only half alert during her morning shift at the restaurant. Gorge asked her if she was sick. She shook her head, and just said there was a lot on her mind. She got off work at four, and spent the next hour on her bed staring at the ceiling by herself. Haji figured to give her a little space. Finally at 5:15 she went back downstairs fully dawned in her athletic gear, and told her family she was going to play some hoops with her friends. She would of said goodbye to Haji, but at the moment he was nowhere to be found. When she asked Gorge about Haji's whereabouts he said Haji left a half hour ago, and wasn't very descriptive on where he was going. Saya sighed, but shrugged it off, figuring she'd be terrible company today anyway. She asked if she could borrow Kai's scooter, which Kai agreed to but ruffled his sisters hair, telling her she better focus enough not to crash or else he'll start taking her everywhere himself again. She half cracked a smile for the first time that day and hugged him, promising that there's no way she'd let herself get hurt if those were the consequences. He handed her his keys, and she was off on her way to the school.

When she got there, Solomon was leaning against the gates of the basketball court with a goofy grin on his face and arms open wide. Saya took a deep breath removing her helmet, and hanging it on the handle bar shaking off her jitters before walking over and accepting Solomon's hug. "You seem to be in a better mood compared to last we spoke." She commented.

"Well yes, I guess you could say I've had a form of entertainment for the past twenty minutes to soften me up." He let go of her and turned her around pointing at the trees. Saya's eyes scanned for a moment before she noticed a familiar set of grey blue eyes fixated on her, and she face palmed.

"Ah, that's why I couldn't find him when I was leaving."

"I think he thinks he's invisible. I've tried talking to him this whole time but he refuses to respond even when I shout. I've been considering throwing pine cones at his feet." Solomon said, still grinning.

Saya couldn't help but smirk at Solomon's humor even though she knew Haji was only doing what was right, in his own little way. So she turned away to face Solomon so Haji couldn't read her lips, and simply said "he's in his surveillance mode. He probably isn't going to move until he feels like he's needed for my safety."

"Yeah, well he's getting rusty. I didn't notice him the first time."

"True, but you were looking for him this time, weren't you?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Not really" She shrugged, and then narrowed her eyes. "So, are we going to get to the topic on my mind, or did you simply hope to get me out here and distract me the whole night so I would forget why I wanted to talk to you?"

"Well I did hope. But I know you too well to count on it." He replied sheepishly. "I'll make you a deal. You beat me at one on one, I'll tell you everything."

"Solomon" she seethed, "that's completely unfair and you know it."

"You could have your guard dog play for you, see if his height is good for anything."

"SOLOMON!"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to beat me but you do have to play. You know the game helps me get into a calmer mind state."

Saya nodded taking the ball out from Solomon's arm, heading inside the court. "First one to five right?"

"Oh no, you're not gonna get through this that easy little lady, ten point match."

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Fine, Deal!" she said half laughing, and the match started. The first five points Solomon wiped the floor with Saya. He then decided to slow it down and let her get in a few steals and a few points so he could enjoy the game a bit longer. Even so, he could only manage to stop himself from winning for so long, and the game lasted twenty five minutes. After that he went down to sit on the corner of the court and motioned Saya to sit next to him, handing her a bottle of water. As she squirted it down her throat, he wrapped one arm tightly around Saya's shoulders. He figured as long as he was stuck being spied on, he'd make spies blood boil a little. Saya cringed feeling uncomfortable with the situation. Not only with Haji watching and all, also the whole evening was starting to get a little too déjà vu of hers and Solomon's last night as a couple. It was still early spring so the sun was close to down, sitting next to each other with his arm around her, all leading up to that moment Saya tried to erase from her brain. Solomon couldn't be so absent minded not to notice how this all set up.

Actually Solomon planned it all this way, not as a twisted plot to make Saya uncomfortable, but it was something he was trying to create for himself. Trying, and failing, he softly sighed. "Nope, it's no use."

"What's no use?"

"Me. You. Us. This moment. I wanted to feel it again. Freeze it in time, and try to re-spin it the way it was supposed to go. Call me an idiot but I was just hoping I'd feel it again, that peace and serenity and completion I had with you before. Before I fucked it up. You snuggled into my side, looking at me with those beautiful curious eyes of yours as I told you about my life. You know Saya I know you loved me, I know it didn't come as natural as it did with your guard dog, but you did learn to love me. I could see it in your eyes when you looked at me. Even when you were annoyed I could see the love in your eyes. That's why I was always so confident around you, that I could be myself, that I could take you anywhere cause even with your arms crossed and your feet dragging that look never went away." He sighed again. "But I should know better than to hope you'd look at me like that ever again. Like I said I just wanted to feel this moment again, but… I guess history is cruel. Everyone says history repeats itself but they don't tell you it's never the moments you hope for. No matter how far I go to recreate this moment it's still not the same. You don't have those passionate intent eyes anymore, you're not as comfortable as you used to be in my arms, and you're not here cause you want to be with me, you're here cause you want answers and I dragged you all the way out here to get them."

Saya frowned, looking down "Solomon, I'm"

"Sorry? Don't be. This was a stupid idea coming from a desperate boy grasping at straws trying to salvage something that he should of just let go." He unwrapped his arm from her shoulder. "If I get nothing out of it at least I feel like I could of done the right thing. Being here again makes me think how easy it would have been to just snuggle till the stars come out, and then drive you home. And you know what, I would have been happier doing that than what my body had desired. I should of done that, but, I just didn't. Or hell I could of made out with you under the nights sky, you did seem to rather like the kissing part." He said with a half smirk coming back to his face.

"Solomon, I don't know what to tell you. It's the kind thing to say I wish I could make you happy, but to do that I'd have to sacrifice my own. I found my peace and joy in the world, and I know right now it feels to you like you only had that in the past, but you can have it in the future if you can accept that the truly right person for you is waiting out there."

"You know Saya, no offense, but there are sometimes I wish I never met you. That way I wouldn't be a fragmented person trying to move past you."

"None taken. Honestly if I knew the outcome of all this, I'd wish the same thing."

"Any who" Solomon said, shaking his head like trying to erase the past conversation from his mind like an etch-a-sketch. "You coming out here for my little emotional experiment was your favor to me, so I guess I should pay you back with my promised favor to you." Solomon reached to his backpack on the vacant side of him, and pulled out a large leather bound book. "This is Joel Goldschmidt's diary. He was quite attentive to get events and discoveries he made on paper. This where most my knowledge of yours, Diva's, and Haji's past comes from. I suppose I can give you this book. You were right before that your history belongs more to you than it does to me. I've just been so protective of it because I was afraid it would land in the wrong hands. Mostly Diva's. Well actually I'm still concerned about what the truth will do to you, but if you made any more noise in public about your past I fear you might make Diva suspicious of me too. I will tell you this though, if Diva gets one tiny clue of this book or it's whereabouts, I will drive over to your house and barge my way upstairs and make sure I personally see this book burned to ash."

"If you're that scared, why didn't you burn it yourself?"

Solomon chuckled, "overconfidence I suppose. Rich families keep plenty of secrets, and when you grow up in that environment you believe you can keep all the secrets in the world under your own lock and key. Even if you're keeping secrets away from other members of your family. I've also been raised to believe that if I dig deep enough, make the right deals, and have the right contacts I can have any sort of information I want. Even if it's other people's secrets, or in yours and Divas case, other people's lives." He said and placed the thick and worn leather bound book in Saya's lap.

"So this book has all the answers?" She asked running her fingertips along the cover.

"Yes, it'll have everything you've been looking for, and probably a lot of things you would wish you never knew."

"Solomon, what has got you so concerned about what I'll find out? I mean you've been terrified since I first brought it up, and I actually feel insulted that you don't think I could handle whatever it is that happened when I was young. I don't remember it, and I've moved on and have had a very stable life with a very loving family. So what are the chances it's going to be such a big deal now?"

"YOU ONLY DON'T REMEMBER IT BECAUSE IT WAS FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM YOUR MEMORY!" Solomon shouted. Saya scooted away from his reach and there was a ruffle from the tree outside the court as Haji was shifting himself to jump down. Solomon sighed and shouted again "OH FOR CHRIST SAKES JUST COME DOWN HERE. YOU'RE PART OF THIS ANYWAY." The ruffles stopped and there was a small thud on the ground and it was silent for a few seconds before the gate slipped open and Haji slipped in. He then just leaned against the door, still across the court from them. "Well? You coming?"

Haji shook his head.

"Then why did you come down here?"

Haji's eyes focused intensely on Saya to make his point.

Solomon took a deep breath, and sighed rubbing his head. His voice starting to level back out "Yeah, I guess I deserve that. Look I'm not going to hurt her. I just… Oh what do I know, I've never been an orphan. But I imagine everyone has some sort of connection to their biological parents. Even if you don't remember them, even if they intentionally left you behind, you still think of them sometimes, don't you?"

He waited, and both Saya and Haji slowly nodded.

"Why do you think that is? Both of you seem relatively happy in your lives. So why do you still think about the people whom left you behind? I think it's because those are the people that created us, flesh and bone, and even though both your lives have gone in completely different directions, everyone still looks to their parents as guild lines of what we might turn out to be. Or wanting to know what kind of legacy they had in mind for each of us. In some cases parents are a great inspiration. But what if you found out the person that created you was a bad person. Not, cheating on your taxes type of bad. I mean a horrible, cold hearted, calculating, manipulative person, who had done terrible things while knowing very well what type of pain it caused. Tell me, would that leave no scars on your psyche? Could you completely detach yourself from that and never wonder what sort of monster you could possibly end up as?"

"Saya could never be a monster!" Haji said in a raised defensive tone.

Saya raised up one hand looking at Haji. Haji took a deep breath but still looked disgruntled, she then turned to Solomon and whispered "Was my father really that terrible of a person?"

Solomon shrugged. He was burned out at this point. He tried being sweet, he tried being harsh, he tried being understanding. He did all he could, and so he figured to just let chips fall as they may. "For my sake, let's just say I don't know anymore. The information isn't mine anymore, it's yours. It's up to you if you want to learn the answers now. It's all in that book." Solomon then flashed his polite public smile and got up to walk across the court. Haji slid to the side of the door and Solomon left without another word.

Saya sat still, her head down and eyes pointed to the book but her focus was out in space. It wasn't until after Solomon's car pulled away, that Haji started to cross the court towards her. "Saya?"

His voice was distant to her, but she looked up, her face strained with worry "Yes Haji?"

He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close "So what do we do from here"

"I really don't know."


	15. Intermission

Solomon pulled into the schools parking lot under the evening lights. He stepped out of his red corvette with a letter in his pocket. It was a confession letter. One of those, "I've really liked you for a long while, but I've been too nervous to tell you, please meet me at such and such location at such and such time and we'll be able to finally talk about it." Most people whom get these letters end up dealing with a prank, or they end up asked out by the last person they expected, or hoped for. However all Solomon's confession letters are genuine, and from all sorts of people, most of which are very cute and interesting girls. Half the schools male population would feel blessed if they received such a letter from these girls. However for Solomon, attending these secret meetings with awaiting admirers has became mostly a chore, a chore he still takes great effort to take care of. Part of his gentlemen training since he was a child. If it's awkward or embarrassing to receive feelings from someone you don't mutually like, it's ten times more humiliating to be the person left on their own with their feelings completely ignored.

He strolled towards the back entrance of the school, it was eight pm, the specific time and place this letter dictated. His awaiting admirer was already there, probably arriving a half hour early, Solomon mused. Some girls can't focus on anything else after the letter leaves their hands, so they have nothing better to do than anxiously wait for his arrival, practicing lines or imagining scenario's. Or at least, this is what girls usually nervously gush about when he arrives. In a sort of mouth spew of females unsure what to actually say to him, he's ended up hearing some very creative, and completely unlikely scenario's that he's been imagined into.

This one however stayed silent, and in the shadow of doorway as Solomon arrived. Even in the shadow he could make out some of her silhouette and clothing. Her hair was short, and pulled back, her lips glimmered which indicted she was wearing gloss. She wore a short sleeve shirt with a V opening that went down enough to leave the center of her chest completely open, down from there was a pleated light colored short skirt over a pair of dark leggings that tightly hugged her legs till they were cut off by a pair of lace up military looking boots that went halfway up her calf. "_It's fascinating how much certain people can transform when they're allowed to change out of their school uniforms" _Solomon thought as he looked her over. A few seconds had only passed by and Solomon decided to take advantage of the silence, before finding out if this girls mouth spoke as loud as her outfit. He pulled the letter out of his pocket and lifted it for her to see.

"I received your letter, and while I must say you seem like a very interesting and probably mesmerizing girl, I respectfully decline any romantic intentions with you at this time."

"May I ask how come?" the question was immediate, which surprised Solomon as he thought she was too nervous to speak. But even more alarming was the voice didn't sound female. It was males voice, but with an effeminate tone. Well this was something new even for Solomon but it relaxed him a little, surely a boy would understand better why he wouldn't be interested.

"I'm not interested in other people at this time. I need some time to focus on myself and my future work in my families company. I deeply apologize if I have offended your feelings sir." And with that Solomon turned away, and started to walk back towards the car.

"Saya's not coming back." The other male said in a firm loud voice. Solomon froze in his tracks and turned back to the figure in the shadow, his brows creased.

"I mentioned nothing of Saya." Solomon defended.

"Yes, but you don't need to. Your reaction says everything."

"And just who are you anyway?" Solomon demanded. The boy took two steps out of the doorway and into the shine of the parking lot lights. Solomon looked him over again more closely. The height, the blonde color his hair, and the way the natural wave of it rebelled against the stubby pigtails his hair was pulled into. He had looked extremely familiar and then Solomon realized that this is one of Saya's friends. "Oh, hello Nathan." Solomon finally said, sounding rather irked with this whole set up.

"So nice to see you too Solomon." Nathan chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I just really don't understand the point of all this. Did Saya send you to tell me to give up? I haven't been pressuring her into anything. In fact after we broke up she's the one that contacted me later."

Nathan rolled his eyes "You're really hopeless aren't you? Saya didn't ask me to do shit, I'm here on my own accord."

"So, I guess that brings me back to my original question. What do you call me out for?"

Nathan shook his head, and softly sighed. "Well if you're gonna put it that bluntly." He paused to look Solomon strait in the eye with a mischievous grin. "Have you ever thought about kissing a guy Solomon?"

"What!?" Solomon's face turned to shock for a moment, before he gained composure. "Oh wait… no no no, I see what you're doing here. This is a test right? Even if Saya didn't send you, you wanted to see for yourself how serious I am about waiting for her. You wanna see if I'm loyal and wouldn't be tempted by other offers."

"Yeah Solomon, cause I'd totally send myself to test your fidelity." Nathan looked at him blank faced. "Saya. Is. Not. Coming. Back."

"How do you know!?"

"How do you not know? Seriously Solomon, for being someone that wants her to be happy, you sure as hell are the last person to notice that she's happy as she is."

"So she's happy, so if she's happy, you're happy right? So why bother me?"

"Because you're not happy."

"So what? What is it of any concern to you?"

"I'd like to make you happy."

Solomon paused, his face turning confused. He hasn't been this completely out of his polite attitude comfort zone since the last time he spoke privately to Saya. In fact there are very few people who can break his composure to this degree, and Solomon never thought Nathan would be one of them. He looked at up at Nathan, and just for a split second he seemed to be entertaining the thought of Nathans proposal, but then he immediately shook his head.

"You can't make me happy."

"You think that of everyone, except for her."

"That's because she's…"

"NOT COMING BACK" Nathan interrupted.

"Sheesh I get it, you don't have to keep stating that part."

"I'm sorry Solomon, but you have to open up your mind, and figure out there are other avenues to true happiness then the first one that you found. I know you were all public face, friendly smile, most the time before Saya. But now it's like, that's all that is too you. Like behind that confident front you put up, there's nothing, just emptiness."

"Why are you so confident that she's never coming back?" Solomon practically pouted. "I mean, if I could just prove to her I can be better than I was before, that I corrected my mistakes. If I was the best most supporting friend in the world to her, and offer her the world, wouldn't that…" He trailed off and sighed. "Nathan, don't you think, that if I a person is willing to do everything they possibly could, and be willing to sacrifice every part of their life, just to have someone special. Doesn't that person deserve her the most?"

Nathan sighed, looking Solomon over while softly rubbing his own forehead. "You know, if the circumstances were different you would have her back. Look, you did somethin really terrible that caused Saya to lose trust in you. I dunno what cause she wouldn't tell anybody, cept Haji apparently cause whenever we try to drill out what happened from Saya, Haji just cringes and looks like he's trying to shake out a bad memory. I don't expect you to tell me either, but that's not the point. The point is trying to prove to her that you learned better, and can be a better person only works if she left because she was pissed at you. But she didn't leave cause she was pissed at you, she left because she fell in love with someone else. Now most the world thinks you're perfect as you are, but even if you become new and improved Solomon two point o, or three point o, it still doesn't make you Haji. You're still not the person she loves." He paused, watching Solomon as Solomon hung his head staring at the ground, slowly shaking no. "I'm sorry Solomon, but what you're doing is no use. You can stay single, and stay supportive, and better yourself in every way, she's not gonna pry her eyes off Haji long enough to even notice. Now you can keep feeling sorry for yourself, and going along with your failed plan, or you can find yourself a new path to happiness. I'll help you if you like."

"Nathan, after all you've said to me tonight, I don't feel the least bit helped you know."

"Sorry Solomon, sometimes you need to break things to be able to rebuild them."

"Do I look like a toy or a piece of pottery to you?"

In a very sudden motion, Nathan took a long stride towards Solomon, grasped his chin so Solomon would look up, and very firmly brought their lips together in a simple kiss. Solomon's eyes widened in surprise and he froze for a half a second before taking two steps backwards. Nathan made no attempt to close the gap again but simply looked Solomon up and down, before a satisfied grin crept on his face. "So you **have** thought about kissing a boy before Solomon."

"What!? That was completely you there. I didn't ask for that at all!"

"Yes, I brought the action, but the reaction is just as, if not more, important. You're face is confused. Your mind tells you, you did not like what I did to you, but you're emotions don't match. If you truly completely felt assaulted by me, you'd be scared, or angry. You'd call me names or shout at me to never touch you again, or you'd simply run away."

"It's not very kind to do that to someone who has feelings towards me."

"Solomon, I just kissed you without any sort of warning or provocation, to some that's sexual assault. When someone does that, all politeness goes out the window. You really want to play that card? Fine, I dare you to forget being kind for a moment, and react however you want to. Tell me I'm disgusting, moraless, push me away or run for your life, I swear to God I won't tell a soul."

Solomon just stood there firm, unable to find words. Nathan took another step to close the gap but this time Solomon stepped back again, knowing not to fall for the same thing twice. "You are a guy Nathan."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"I'm also a guy."

"I'm also very aware of that."

"I am the single heir to Japans third most profiting company. My whole life is on display for the whole world to see and judge. Up and coming male billionaires don't have boyfriends."

Nathan smirked "I can be a girl for you."

Solomon for once, half smiled and shook his head "No you can't."

"Aw damn, I was trying so hard too."

"Look, you can't be in my world. Not in school, not at parties, no coming to vacation spots with me. You don't want that sort of life. No one will recognize our 'partnership', if I would ever agree to such a thing in the first place. And you'd still have to deal with people constantly offering themselves to me."

"And you'd just politely blow them off like you planned to do with me." Nathan chuckled. "Whoever said I wanted the fame of being by your side, or the parties, or the vacation spots?"

"Well, what on earth do you want?"

"Well okay, the vacation spots do sound nice, but I suppose I can sacrifice that for the bigger picture. As I said before I want to make you happy. Well actually I want to make everyone happy. Saya gets this absolutely horrid pang of guilt every time you come in eyeshot at school because she feels like her presence hurts you."

"And you said she's too occupied to even notice me."

"Okay okay, she notices, but she knows she's not the one that can make you happy. If she went with you she'd break Haji's heart, and she'd be miserable too. Even if she managed to conceal her misery you couldn't have a relationship with her if you knew she was sacrificing her happiness for your own."

"You know there's more than one avenue of the two of them breaking up. Haji could leave her you know."

Nathan raised his eyebrow giving Solomon what can only be described as an 'are you shitting me' look. "Yeah right, you ever look at Haji's expression EVERY SINGLE TIME he looks at Saya. It's some sort of awed worship, like a blind man seeing the light for the first time. Good luck waiting for him to get tired of her."

Solomon sighed, and shook his head. "Why on earth am I still talking to you Nathan? You come here, and try to convince me to be bisexual because you pity me, and want to make things more comfortable with your friend. All the while reminding me of how hopeless I am in finding happiness. You know what? You want me to stop being polite for a moment, fine I will be! You know, I fucked up, I fucked up big time and I accept that. But without so much as a chance to even let me apologize and talk it out, Saya left me for another guy. Hell there wasn't even a grace period. Just the next day, there he is. I **loathed** myself all night after Saya ran away from me, and if only I had a chance to prove it, we wouldn't be here. Now I love that woman to death, so every time she's near me I can't help but smile, even if it kills me when she leaves each time. But you know, she's so wonderfully happy now, and I'm empty. So if my presence makes her just a little on edge, cause it reminds her of what she did to me, I honestly think she deserves it. So go away Nathan! And if you dare even whisper a word of this to anyone else, I will personally show you how money and influence can make someone else's life a living hell." By the time he was done Solomon's voice was quivering, his arms shaking, and all his composure spent, leaving nothing but an angry desperate shell of a boy, turning around and walking away.

"Solomon wait!" Nathan called out. Solomon continued walking to his car even faster, having all patience spent and no words left to say. Nathan ran ahead till he was five feet behind him. "Solomon please, I love you."

Solomon paused, stiff as a board and turned on his heals to face Nathan. At the moment he was only three feet from the car and he had no idea why on earth such a statement didn't just make him run faster, but still he just silently stared at Nathan, unsure what to say to this.

Nathan used this pause to his opportunity to explain himself. "Look, I know my feelings for you must seem to be just small drop in the vast ocean of admiration, but could you please just hear me out. I learned a lot about you from Saya, and please don't be angry at her. I'm quite persuasive at badgering details out of people if I'm curious about something. The whole school loves you because you appear to be perfect, and because of that all your admirers expect you to be perfect. Girls want the good looking prince that always knows the perfect thing to say. The rich prince just waiting for the right girl, and when you find her you'll give her the whole world. And in a twisted way you want that too. You want to find that perfect girl you can give the whole word to. Except, you never wanted anyone who expected a prince, you just wanted someone who wanted you. Not only that, but someone brave enough to look past the money, influence and perfection, and remember not to change themselves to suit your image. Well look at me Solomon! I've come to confess to you wearing my plunging V-neck and leggings. Isn't that proof enough that your image doesn't intimidate me? This is me Solomon, I am a real person, and I understand that you also are a real person, who is extremely lonely. And I would really love it, if you'd give me the honor, of at least trying to be my partner. I understand if it doesn't work out, that's a risk everyone takes, and it's even more likely in my situation. If it ends it ends, I promise I won't bother you again, but please, give me a chance. I promise not to tell a soul about you even giving me the time of day if it makes you more comfortable." Nathan stopped, catching his breath and braced himself against the upcoming rebuff.

Solomon was in a sort of awe at Nathans confession, though a little off put by the amount of personal detail he managed out of Saya. His impatience and anger were gone and replaced by confusion. He was completely mystified in what to do in this sort of situation. After about thirty seconds, he finally found words to say. "You are a very lovely person Nathan, and you have a bigger heart than expected, considering how you usually act. But even if somewhere deep down I have the potential to adjust to a bisexual lifestyle, someone as kind as you are to me deserves a person who isn't ashamed of having you as a partner. Therefore I once again politely de…"

"Stop. If you really think that kindly of me now, don't decline. Let me have my chance. I already know the consequences and honestly this wouldn't be the first, or probably the last closeted relationship I have been in. If the person matters enough to me, the joy of having them on any sort of a level outweighs the pain of not being able to have them publicly. You're scared Solomon, and I understand that, but we can take this one day at a time."

"Nathan, I don't even know where to start with you." Solomon said, shaking his head.

"Honestly, I think we should start with a drink. I'm sure with all that money and influence of yours you know a few contacts willing to get us some alcohol. After all this emotional stress for both of us it's best to just unwind. Besides, if we get drunk enough I even offer to listen to you whine about how much you miss Saya."

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of tonight? If I still go on about Saya?"

"Well I knew my confession wouldn't be enough to just make you forget about her, this is a long road we're gonna travel. Like I said, one day at a time."

And with that Solomon and Nathan got into the red corvette and drove off to find one of Solomon's friends willing to get them drunk.

**So, this was a completely unplanned chapter that just popped in my head. As you could of guessed cause it's the only chapter that doesn't have an appearance by the main character. I wanted to make it seem believable too, like what would really happen if a guy confessed to Solomon instead of the usual yaoi situation where Solomon would be like "to be honest I've always had my eye on you too. Lets make out" XD so lemme know how I did. And thank you for your patience! This story will be finished sometime I swear!**


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